We chatted with other river travelers who were devoting weeks to the Mackenzie in more suitable boats. Route Planning Designed specifically to accommodate logistics needs for sporting activities, the Landing Craft has fast become the favored choice to bring home the payload. We did go home when we reached Tulita the next day. EDDY TURNING. Locale: Pacific Northwest. Thundercloud Creek was in flood. Shore… Sticky Holes. Now you can stealthily paddle right up to the shadows and log jams to comfortably fish anywhere. EDDY TURNING. WASHINGTON STATE HIKING & BACKPACKING Featuring incredible volcanoes, rainforests, mountain ranges, and more, our Washington hiking tours are some of the best in the U.S. Oh, Canada: Packrafting The Northwest Territories We cooked up a packraft route that started on the Little Nahanni River, which flows from the Yukon/NWT border. Alpacka Raft Lineup. We weren’t envious but were happy for them. We’d thrown around the idea of a food drop but decided the added complexity, cost and intrusion weren’t worth it. Getting together with friends and doing something that’s a little crazy until it seems normal, like everyday life, maybe that’s the experience? Simple? Even the place doesn’t make the trip (although it can unmake it). We had 7 days of perfect weather. Leaning In. A password will be sent to your email address. I had never heard of packrafting until my good friend Seth told me about it. Part 2/3. Paul Burbidge and his expedition partners, Dylan Stewart Paul Christensen and Sky Pearson are regularly exploring remote parts of Northern Canada and pushing the limits of what’s possible in a packraft. Monday, June 10, 2019. / November 22, 2019, Day Hiking He fought it hard and ended up going under still square in his boat. The people were cool, the setting was gorgeous, and I am not yet good at packrafting. In a way it was a bummer to split up for a few days but in the end it was for the best. She is a 1987 graduate of Marquette University's program in physical therapy and earned her Doctorate in Physical Therapy (DPT) through Evidence in Motion in 2016. I’ve heard many people complain that their raingear was “leaking”, when in fact it is really perspiration and condensation accumulating against the inside of the jacket. We were carrying full whitewater boat kits (19 pounds each) and 21 days’ food. Eventually we did find a nasty boat-shredding canyon formed by a rock slide, but after scouting we realized it would go. So, when Kirk came up with a combo backpacking and packrafting trip in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in Washington, it sounded perfect. The Alpackaraft brand is the original packraft brand and the company is often referred to as the inventor of commercial packrafts (NOTE: be aware of unsafe/low quality china copies) . Strokes: Forward, Sweep, Reverse, Draw. Bikepacking Paul and Sky had decided that they didn’t want to paddle our next objective-Black Wolf Creek. Packrafting At our campus, a 40-acre former dairy farm, you’ll enjoy fresh veggies from our on-site garden and breathtaking views of the Talkeetna Mountains and Chugach Range. So I told Andrea we were going to Oregon! Our paddling didn’t seem to have any effect but we moved along. We were both aware that a swim would be bad. / January 08, 2021, Words & Photos by Paul Burbidge // Videos by Dylan Stewart. Huge thanks to Carrie for lots of help with this post. We've partnered with some amazing brands to give away our top gift picks. These parks have great trip planners available online and are Canada’s packraft nirvana. In the spring of 2019, I and two friends bought packrafts and hiked and paddled the North Fork of the Koyukuk river. We made easy 100 kilometer days but took our time scouting canyons that were extremely turbulent in the flood levels. Come join us at NOLS Alaska for an adventure in the Land of the Midnight Sun. The Pacific Northwest is known for its variable conditions, and the Patagonia SnowDrifter Jacket has proven itself as a capable companion in everything Mother Nature has thrown our way. Best illustrated with when you put your life in the hands of the craftsmanship and product quality when packrafting several kilometers from shore, often in ice cold water. backcountry-adventures:Backcountry Adventures@@Immerse yourself in the creativity of the multi-sport set that gets “out there.”@@@@//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/3004/4846/files/1908_BLOG-BackcountryAdventures-Header-1_2048x.jpg?v=1565185427@@//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/3004/4846/files/1908_BLOG-BackcountryAdventures-Header-1_568x.jpg?v=1565185427@@["Ambassador", "Mountaineering", "Ultralight Backpacking", "Skiing", "Packrafting", "Bikepacking", "Canyoneering", "Route Planning", "Ice Climbing"]||||the-shakedown:The Shakedown@@Your Guides Through the World of. ; get out and carry your boat until you feel it’s safe; close your relief zipper before you jump in to cool off. It has many difficult … Oct 3, 2018 - All things packrafting & white water sports. The boats are made from the highest quality fine grade nylon 66 with the most durable polyurethane coating. Once we reached Hell Roaring Creek, the big hike began. The folks at American Whitewater have been kind enough to indulge me by publishing a series of articles about packrafting in their 2020 issues. Packrafting the Sauk I tried my hand and paddle at packrafting this past weekend. Flying in to Upper Paradise Lake is the only easy option. Hiking is simple: put one foot in front of the other, try not to lose elevation unnecessarily, don’t kick too many rocks with your sore toes. Price: $549 Weight: 11.1 oz. Pimp My Packraft! Sweepers, Strainers, Undercuts, Debris. Kristy and I set out on the 4th of July with the goal of utilizing the packrafts to do a different Ozette loop, only possible with a packraft. Pacific Northwest Clothing. We still had 100 kilometers of river to paddle but the unknowns were behind us and we started paddling by ourselves, in our own heads. They are meant to be light enough to carry in your pack and sturdy enough to paddle down rivers. In one boily canyon Dylan’s entire raft was sucked under by the sudden appearance of a whirlpool. See the Women's Arc'teryx Beta FL See the Men's Arc'teryx Beta FL Ultralight Backpacking 2020-12-31T20:00:00-08:00: United in Song: Celebrating the Resilience of America: 2020-12-31T21:30:00-08:00: Pink Martini Celebrates New Year's Eve Nothing spells adventure like strapping a durable craft to your back and heading down the canyon rim to find out what’s downstream. Maybe easy isn’t the right word. Weighing as light as 5.5 pounds and durable enough for class III you can hit tributaries you've never thought possible. Come explore the northwest arctic with us this autumn. Your personal data will be used to support your experience throughout this website, to manage access to your account, and for other purposes described in our privacy policy. Simple because you trust your trip mates and their abilities. The founder of Packrafting.com, bought the first Alpackaraft in 2005 and it is still in use and has never had a leak or been repaired,  several years and hundreds of trips of heavy use in both rocky rivers, salt water and lakes. Mission. Thanks to Tony for dropping us off, we missed you out there. So how did we get to the Mackenzie and where did all this simple living take place? You know they’ll pick a good camp, a good line through the rapid or a good way to skirt a canyon. Some of the simple was quite hard (150 kilometers of portaging with no trails, difficult rivers) but it was simple. I’m a West Virginian at heart. Entering the Hydraulic. The Alpacka packraft and Packraft Fishing Table allows you to get away from marshy edges and log jams, and have a totally liberating alpine fishing experience. Holes. They would be long and hot and we’d have to paddle to make up for the lack of current. You don’t need to talk about it but you do because that’s what there is to talk about. The next day we reached Thundercloud Creek and were able to blow up the boats we’d been carrying for 3.5 days. We did one short portage around a river-wide pour over and scouted two more canyons that proved runnable. I wanted to be back in the clear steep mountain rivers – but I also wanted to go home. (women’s small) Waterproofing: Gore-Tex Pro Denier: 40D What we like: Premium Gore-Tex Pro protection in a lightweight and breathable design. Come explore them with us. No need to register, buy now! The Little Nahanni is often done by canoeists over the course of a week or so. We all wished each other good luck on our trips and agreed not to share any intel on the Black Wolf until we’d all done it. We get off the beaten path, actually there are no paths. Fortunately he popped up a few seconds later and climbed back in his boat to finish the canyon. The lower creek was several hundred meters wide and then suddenly constricted to a few meters as we headed upstream. / December 03, 2020, Ambassador Our next phase was to paddle the rest of the Broken Skull and then the South Nahanni as far as Hell Roaring Creek. The country we passed through softened as we approached the confluence of the Redstone and Mackenzie. We went down the river with head nods as our primary means of communication. / August 02, 2018. Packrafting Our entire crew are basically Google Earth addicts, searching for ways to link different areas together with entertaining paddling and scenic hiking. We planned a nice 172km hiking/packraft loop on the classic South Fork Flathead and North Fork Sun Rivers. Or maybe this was just me. #Packrafts are gaining popularity and are perfect for the mulit outdoor sport enthusiast. We gave ourselves a day to get down the Little Nahanni and five kilometers of the South Nahanni before we started our first portage. Getting the gear off the boat and into the tubes is the single biggest step away from Ramer and toward Dynafit I have seen in my four decades of packrafting (80s, 90s, Oughts, Teens). Bikepacking | Climbing | Packrafting | Skiing | Mountaineering | Hiking. A packraft as defined by Wikipedia is a small, portable inflatable boat designed for use in all bodies of water, including technical whitewater and ocean bays and fjords. We decided to knock off early for the only time during the trip and did laundry in our Porter packs–good for keeping water IN too. We cooked up a packraft route that started on the Little Nahanni River, which flows from the Yukon/NWT border. Multi person packrafts are a great way to get out on the water with a friend. We needn’t have bothered; we were soon stopped by two waterfalls with nasty portages. The greatest thing about the Pacific Northwest is how much accessible adventure hides in the creases of its maps. The river slowed. Eastern Packrafting and Survival on all of the legendary big rivers of the Eastern U.S., as well as their remote tributaries. When packing for the Pacific Northwest, preparation for the elements is key. I’ve had a love affair with the verdant and rugged topography of the Appalachian Mountains my entire life. Waves. Elizabeth Hampton, PT, DPT, WCS, PRPC, BCB-PMD Elizabeth is a physical therapist in practice since 1987 and owner of CorePhysio. A quick scout revealed this was a walk as the canyon was nasty looking with an ugly waterfall entrance. … / November 18, 2020, Thru Hiking I’ve read everything I could about the Nahanni for years and was keen to take a look. Meet our multi person packrafts. Email Floris van Breugel | + larger view "Packrafting" no. Which raises the real risk of open water packrafting – the wind turning the wrong way! North America Jess Wandering November 28, 2018 hike, hiking, gear, clothing, Washington, Rattlesnake Ledge, Rattlesnake Ridge, writing, Pacific Northwest Comments Packrafting Into the … In any case, I’d like to thank Sky, Paul and Dylan for an awesome trip. As it turned out, an overnight on Pacific Creek was quite an adventure. More often though, packrafts are used for […] Practice! Technical Water. No matter what time of year, always pack a raincoat (see our favorites in this post), some study hiking boots, and lots of layers! On this trip they put our Ultamid Pyramid Tents + Inserts, Flat Tarps, and 4400 Porter pack to the test. / July 20, 2020, How To © HYPERLITE MOUNTAIN GEAR. We both got humbled a bit but came through unscathed. Wake up, hike or paddle, enjoy food that would make you gag at home, find a nice camp, face a bunch of unknowns, and enjoy being out there. You simply cannot compromise on quality when buying a packraft! Road Tripping the Pacific Northwest Coast. 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