Coming to Packrafting – Beginning My (Foolish?) Packraft Journey?

A Plan…Or Misstep?

Late winter is my time for reflection and scheming. Sure, I chase some chukar and drill holes in the ice for fat trout to pass the time, but my heart isn’t as deeply drawn to winter activities these days. Over the past five or six years, I’ve spent ridiculous amounts of computer time planning my upcoming big game tag applications and hunts during snowy winter weekends. This winter started the same. Hacking away at my keyboard, but my mind wandered a different path since Christmas.

Two summers ago I sat in camp visiting with my lifelong friend, Ken over beers. I’ve long fantasized about seeing the many canyons of the Owyhee River in Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon. I’m especially keen on finding new remote hunting or fishing grounds. Ken had bravely kayaked the East Fork with his dad many years ago. I hoped in him I might have a willing party (certainly not a sucker) to my silly fantasies. So I asked if he’d maybe like to take a multi-day adventure and he called my bluff right then and there. Then what do you know, this most recent summer he upped the ante asking me to supply details. I will continue that story this spring if I survive the trip….

Down the Packraft Rabbit Hole

Somewhere along the line this winter I started (mis-) appropriating digital big game research time to paddling fantasies. As I started to plan the equipment needs and possible routes for our East Fork trip, I stumbled…really stumbled, upon a new idea! It appears there is this wacky craft called a “packraft”. I recalled the 2018 Back Country Hunters and Anglers Rendezvous in Boise where I talked to the owner of Alpacka Rafts. At the time, I didn’t really piece together the possibilities, but the experience stuck in my mind. Recalling that meeting, I started digging deeper into their website.

My exposure to packrafts was mostly through big game hunting podcasts. Specifically, lots of folks have been using these funky little units as a lightweight means of getting to big game and floating the meat and camp back out to civilization. In fact, I believe that was the original purpose of the Alpacka owner’s foray into packrafting. This purpose is so near and dear to my way of thinking, I couldn’t help but be attracted to them. These little units excel as a means of gaining access into the back country and retrieving game.

A Little More Packraft Info Please…

Packrafts are ultralight crafts made from polyurethane waterproof fabric. They range in weight from as little as 3 pounds or less, up to a portly 14 or 15 pounds. The very light ones are perfect for hiking to sunny mountain lakes for a paddle or fishing expedition. The biggest packrafts handle loads up to 1000 pounds and have been used to pack moose! You can even make them at home on your kitchen table on the cheap! Somewhere along the line, probably almost immediately, kayakers and recreationalists got wise to these things and corrupted them to pure river play.

Do a YouTube search on “packraft” and you will find it all. People have worked these rafts into all kinds of trekking and adventure. Bike-rafters will bicycle between rivers or water bodies, disassemble their bikes, and paddle to the next bike trail. They can string together very long trips in varied country. Ski-rafters combine (you guessed it) adventure skiing with paddling. Whitewater packrafting is also a thing. Some of these units having self-bailing floors and others being equipped with legitimate kayak-type spray skirts. Paddlers have quickly found that these rafts allow them to get to creeks and river runs (like the Escalante in Utah) or make difficult portages that would have been extremely difficult without them.

False Sense of Security?

Along with being ridiculously light and compact, packrafts are very buoyant and stable. This might be a problem, as they tend to not tip over as easily as a hard-shell kayak. The “problem” here is the false sense of confidence they may inspire. This may lead a paddler into waters beyond their true capabilities due to the raft’s forgiving nature. A hard-shell kayaker would have developed key skills required to be on any give river or creek. The packraft may shortcut this learning process. This could put you at a severe disadvantage when the going really does get tough.

Packrafters have challenged nearly everything that has been kayaked and even over some relatively high falls. That all sounds really cool, but I’m a bit old to start seeking too many wild river thrills. My fascination with packrafting is one of exploration and the adventure of seeing new places. I want to see bighorn sheep drinking from the river ahead. I want to have access to hikes that few ever make. Multi-day trips on the river, and possibly backpacking as well, present such a great alure to me. Avoiding the false sense of security these agile, buoyant, and stable crafts instill becomes the risk I must most guard against. This is going to require a real regimen of ramping up my skill set.

Packrafts are Legitimate!

So down the rabbit hole I went, full speed ahead! My winter was looking up as I found a brand-new topic to research and fantasize about. I’m only recently beginning to understand the full value of YouTube. This had always been in my mind a place for random silly clips and maintenance how-to videos, not full-featured adventure films. As I searched for “packraft” on YouTube, I quickly realized people were using these little units as a pure play toy for outdoor adventure. Not just for accessing fishing or hunting, but just like any other kayak or raft that lets you enjoy time on a creek or river.

I tend to overrate my skill level at just about anything I do. So with this sense of optimism, I started to consider what I might do if Tammy decided she didn’t want to go on the East Fork trip with us. Water sports really aren’t her bag. I think it’s that whole “drowning” thing, but water sports also just don’t inspire her. So, what was I going to do? Our 14-foot SOAR inflatable canoe is great for two people and gear, but unwieldy for a solo paddler. My first alternate choice was a 12-foot tandem inflatable kayak (IK) which would be more agile and still able to pack significant gear rated around 500 pounds capacity.

My thoughts turned back to the packraft with its short 8-foot length and 450 pound capacity. Yep, it isn’t as durable as the IK, but it would be amazing for portages. It didn’t take a lot of convincing to talk myself into the need for this cool little packraft. After all, if Tammy bailed on me, I had to salvage the trip somehow right? Totally justifiable! Also, a trip on that part of the Owyhee runs about $1500, so look at all the money we were already saving, right? Practically printing money…it has to go somewhere!

Decision Made

After a fair bit of blissful research, it became pretty apparent the Alpacka team was making the rafts that would best suit my needs. The heavier and longer Aire BAKraft™ was a consideration as well, but I couldn’t figure out what made it $600 better than the Alpacka Gnarwhal. The Gnarwhal (and its thinner sister the Wolverine) is built for whitewater. It includes a thigh-strap system, well considered seat design, and I opted for the self-bailing inflatable floor. On top of that, it has an air-tight zipper that allows you to stow gear inside the main tubes using the included two buckle-in dry bags. This thing has been thought-through very well.

I’m hopeful that this 8.5-pound boat will provide me with many opportunities to see country that would remain otherwise inaccessible. Yes, it is much heavier than the 3- to 4-pound backcountry model, but I intend to float down rocky creeks and rivers to see the country more than hiking to a high mountain lake. This unit is sort of my insurance policy to allow me to participate in combined and solo efforts. I get that I have no business doing multi-day solos with my experience level (maybe nobody should, ever), but it should open opportunities on all kinds of regional rivers and creeks.

Aspirations, Foolish or Not

Let’s see how the East Fork trip goes this year. If it goes well, I hope to explore the South Fork Owyhee and then Deep Creek tributary in the next couple of years. The lower Owyhee below Rome would be next. Finally, the toughest segment from the EF/SF confluence to Rome would be my ultimate hope, if I can climb the ladder of experience and still feel it is safe to finish that last difficult stretch. After that, the other great Nevada system, Jarbidge/Bruneau speaks to me. The Bruneau run starting in Nevada at Rowland honestly terrifies me. Should I try it, the packraft would be the only choice to allow so many lengthy portages around scary drops and falls. I have no desire to cheat death; rather, avoiding death altogether while experiencing the most epic backcountry in the west is the allure. I don’t mind hiking a little to avoid death…

I’m hoping to entice a friend or two to join me in adventuring the rivers of Nevada and Idaho. Or maybe making some new friends who are way ahead of me on this idea! Barring that, I can set up some beautiful day runs. My family support team would just love to catch fish while waiting to see if I make it! Even some of the biggest names in whitewater rivers have seasons and water levels that provide opportunities to less expert paddlers and I hope to take advantage of some of those over time. Bonus: low water in these rivers often equates to peak fishing season!

Where to Next?

If I were to be completely honest, I as much hope to find my next great hunting gem through this process as anything. Whether listening for chukars or watching for mule deer, sheep, or elk, the opportunities to develop some mostly-secret hunting grounds should be real on certain rivers and creeks. The packraft requires very little water to float. It can be walked through shallow areas or around obstacles easily with its low weight. Ultimately, you can throw it onto your back and hike! I hope to weed out the competition and open up new fall hunting adventures while I also enjoy the exploration in the spring and summer.  Seems like a win-win to me….

Update: Summer 2021 –