Packrafting: Exploring the Wilderness by Portable Boat

by Molly Absolon

Don’t Be Left Up a River… Without a PackraftPackrafts are lightweight, inflatable boats that can be carried in a backpack, on a bicycle or in a duffel bag. These compact, tough personal watercrafts are used to float rivers, run rapids, cross lakes, and even drop waterfalls, often as part of a broader wilderness expedition that includes backpacking. Packrafting is rapidly gaining in popularity, with increasingly varied options for gear, ranging by size, cost, and function. With the number of guided packrafting trips on the rise, this is the perfect book for the beginner interested in the up-and-coming sport.

333 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 15, 2017

Reviews

[Zendegi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was invited on a trip to packraft the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, 100 beautiful miles in the Idaho wilderness with over 300 named rapids (up to class IV), about a month before the trip. I didn't have a packraft or experience packrafting or even kayaking. My river experience consisted of being on a commercial guided raft a few times over the years and canoeing in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota (nary a rapid to be found). Despite these obvious indicators that I might be getting over my head, literally, I accepted the invitation and scrambled to get a packraft and other gear, and to learn what I could. For full disclosure, while I didn't have much river experience, I did have extensive outdoor experience, including scuba diving, climbing, caving, and canyoneering, and mountain search and rescue, so I had a good base to work with.

This book was at my local outdoor store, so I picked it up and started reading. It familiarized me with the necessary gear, how to handle a packraft, some basic river reading, and repairs. I finished it about a week before the trip. Luckily I was able to snag a new alpacka narwhal, even though production was 12 weeks out. The day came and me and my three companions were off.

Well, this turned out to be truly an amazing experience. The river valley was gorgeous, the camps were great, the rapids were mostly not too scary, but some were! We saw mountain goats, eagles, osprey, salmon (naturally), even a swimming bat (bats can swim?), many petroglyphs, waterfalls, and got to soak in natural hot springs. I ended up flipping only 4 times during that 100 miles and I ran every rapid but two (I didn't run those two due to being extremely cold when my drysuit flooded from one of my flips).

Standing in my friend's driveway at the end of the long carpool back home, saying goodbye at 4 in the morning, one of the guys said to me "I've never seen anyone pick up packrafting that fast."

Thanks Molly Absolon! I wouldn't have been able to do it without you!