PACKRAFTING! An Introduction and How-To Guide by Dial Roman

Author:Dial, Roman [Dial, Roman]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Beartooth Media Group
Published: 2011-05-04T16:00:00+00:00

Expedition Boating

Expedition boating involves packraft trips of a week or more, with equal parts hiking and rafting (if just rafting, see sport boating above and add camping), with boating used in at least two or three sections. Packrafting expeditions have so far been most common in northern regions like Norway, Alaska, and Canada, although some trips in the American Rockies have taken place, too, as well as in Mexico’s Copper Canyon country. New Zealand, Patagonia, Russia, and the tropics are ripe for expeditions.

Hefty pack weights (over fifty pounds) make whitewater above PR 4 difficult, even dangerous, because of the slow response time and the hazards of flipping when heavily loaded. Also, rivers are often unknown in difficulty, although combining the classic wilderness rivers like Alaska’s Charley, the Yukon’s Firth, and others with “fair-means” access — that is, walking-in, rather than flying-in — is stylish and environmentally consistent.

Alaska offers stellar expedition boating, where big landscape and wild rivers abound, and it requires dealing with rivers and lakes. Extensive packrafting has taken place in the Brooks, Alaska, Chugach, and Wrangell-St. Elias Ranges, as well as in the Talkeetna and Kenai Mountains and the Alaska Peninsula. Here are opportunities for wonderful, full-bodied trips of a week to ten days that traverse world-class wilderness in its entirety. In some instances, loop trips of over one hundred miles that involve linking anti-parallel rivers with mountain hiking legs make for novel combinations, while, in others, the trips begin near mountain range summits and end with saltwater crossings.

Multi-functions for each piece of gear, Spartan philosophies, gear sharing, and new super-light technologies become essential on longer expedition trips. The wilderness regions of the world big enough to contain a week-long wilderness trip involving both boating and walking often lack marked and maintained trail systems. Consequently, a substantial portion of travel may be off-trail over rugged terrain, or down wild, unrun rivers. Both situations require light loads. Meanwhile, safety equipment like a satellite phone and more extensive medical equipment, fuel, and food supplies also challenge the expedition boater . . . but the rewards are well worth it as this is where packrafting really excels.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.