The Winner Creek to 20 Mile River loop is a great first packrafting trip. Such a joy to spend days where time was meaningless. Martin Rinke (63), an experienced boater, fell out of his boat in the Lions Head section of Matanuska River. It heads directly uphill, very steep, with no switchbacks for the first 100yrs then becomes obvious. Then take your fishing gear, license, a basket of sandwiches and beverages and sunglasses, and head to Wind River Countrys pristine fishing spots. I had been to the Cirque of the Towers area as a Boy Scout, somehow singeing my hair with white gas, leaving plenty of trace by rolling rocks down scree slopes, and then managing to get lost on my way back to the car. Hot showers are in order! Backpacking Light community posts are moderated and here to foster helpful and positive discussions about lightweight backpacking. They offer waded fishing trips and free evening casting lessons. * A Basic Membership is required to view Member Q&A events. The other mistake was running solo. Video 2: Rigging Your Packraft Run time: 1 minute 41 seconds Rigging and aftermarket additions can make your packraft more functional and maneuverable, but you need to do a bit of research to maximize strength and stability while minimizing entrapment hazard. Nisutlin River Family Tour Ruby Range Adventure. He road scouted a section of the Bugaboo and determined that it was below his skill level. From Mild to Wild, Exploring Wind River Countrys Waterways. The reporting party was reached and assisted within hours, and the missing packrafter was found, deceased, on rocks farther downriver. As your data shows, a drysuit is also an important piece of safety gear especially for packrafting because rolling up is unlikely and swims are more likely. I could head into the Uintas again and meander between familiar pines and emerge at familiar lakes in familiar bowls where moundy rock lifts up on all sides. afternoon naps were a requirement on Saturday and Sunday; these dogs were barkin! All told, the range has more than 30 peaks higher than 13,000 feet and over 130 glaciers dispersed across three-quarters of a million acres of public land. Strong fjords winds are also common. A 100-mile long strip of stunning, jagged mountains extending southeast of Yellowstone National Park through Wyoming, "The Winds" are a backpacking and trekking paradise. Great detail that it works with the shorter torsolight and that it's actually better to avoid a full body wrapyou're going for a taco rather than burrito :~). They are known for their affordable entry-level produtcs with a solid quality.They offer inflatable kayak for a pretty long time and extended the product range to packrafts recently as well. Thanks for putting this together and keeping the risks real. To get truly wild with your Wind River Country fly fishing, head into the mountains for a few days or a week for the adventure of a lifetime. The Continental Divide crests the Wind River Range's entire length. Our premium articles include in depth journalism and insights from the Backpacking Light editorial team. It is likely that the rapids caught Romain off guard. Neither boater wore PFDs (or drysuits, I assume). There is not much information about this fatality yet. Cold water is brutal. He is personable, knowledgeable about the Arctic, and has excellent group management skills. But you dont need to hike 15 miles to 12,000 feet above sea level if you dont want to. There are some beautiful campsites nestled into the shores of the lakeslike the sandy campsites youll find when you kayak or canoe across Worthen Reservoir from the boat ramp. It's fine with me for folks to take whatever risks that they wish, as long as they are informed. You can now take guided packrafting trips in Wind River Country. Life on the river is sensational. Thanks to the drysuit and thermal layer, my core was 100% normal the whole time. Romain Qunhen, a Belgian on a roadtrip from BC to Alaska, went missing on the Nass River, BC, Romains packraft and backpack were recovered. I stopped counting at about a dozen, and it wouldnt have been so bad if I had not had a full pack on the boat! A 3/4 length pad works better for flotation but tends to roll you, where the short length of the torsolite keeps you chest up, but making it harder to do an aggressive swim if needed. The analogy that comes to mind is going back to using cloths line to "protect" climbing routes becaues of it's handling characteristics while in your pack. Though Id share some details regarding our trip last weekend (June 14-16th, 2013) following Forrests (http://jhpackraft.com/packraft-info/trip-ideas/) trip idea and his post. TRAIL DAYS ONLINE! 2.5 inches to accommodate his long legs. Unrestricted access to all forums, plus the ability to post and start new threads. Care to give any thoughts on this shelter? Great work, and another post worth saving. No other details are available at this point. Become a member today! I believe Forrest quotes the minimum at about 300. packrafting wind river range Wyoming By Ben Kilbourne Ben Kilbourne has been backpacking since his days in the womb. The immediate cause of Peters death was apparently the inability to swim out of the rapid barrel (reverse water flow [backwash]), possibly a stone hitting. Snake River Lollipop Loop - Yellowstone National Park - August 8, 2021, Jemez River, Las Conchas Trail and Beyond, Pine River, Lake Creek, Flint Creek Loop San Juan. But that just wasnt going to cut it for me this time. On our trip of Big Wild Adventures, we travelled through a part of the range very seldom visited by backpackers. Jaymes overturned his boat and was quickly separated from his partner. I appreciated the time he spent teaching me to read the map, which is not easy without trails. Hey Luc, Thanks for putting energy into this. A man was found submerged under a packraft, trapped in an undercut rock, mid-river. He has developed a rudimentary understanding of its geology, and an awareness of the subtle changes in flora and fauna due to soil, elevation, aspect, and precipitation and how these elemental things interact with both ancient and modern humans. ", "I am just finishing my tenth trip with you guys. Im sure youll have a blast anywhere in the wind river range however. The other activities are endless: at Boysen, you will relish in the scenic and comfortable camping set ups, volleyball courts and picnic areas. I went to a couple of paddling shops and weighed all of the L/XL PFDs they had on display. The MTI Livery PFD seems to be the best standard option for rough water packrafting at .9 lbs. Rescuers found his packraft in a log jam. The Wind River Range is home to 228 named mountains, highest and most prominent of which is Gannet Peak (13,802ft/4207m) - the tallest peak in Wyoming. 12 day backpacking and packrafting in Gates of the Arctic, Alaska. The Sndre Strmfjord is an almost linear, 170 km fjord which can funnel strong winds from the ice sheet. Imagine this: waking up to the smell of crackling bacon, watching morning sunlight hit the Dinwoody Cirque and listening to a Clarks nutcracker sing from a whitebark pine outside your tent. Unrestricted access to all 2,300+ articles, gear reviews, skills, stories, and more. This sub Class warrants mention as packrafts can often tackle tight creeks at low flows that are quite technical in nature with lots of manoeuvring required. We found his foot tracks in a gravel bar where we believe he had pulled in and looked downriver, Tim said. Duration 14 Days . Choosing one trip out of the nearly endless options within a five-hour drive from Salt Lake City has been feeling like a daunting task lately. https://www.terracestandard.com/news/search-called-off-for-nass-river-kayaker/https://www.haidagwaiiobserver.com/news/belgian-man-linked-as-possible-missing-kayaker-in-nass-river/. A Frenchman was reported overdue around the northern end of Lake Rotorua. Seneca Lake Trail. Many of the creeks, like the Dinwoody . Wildland Trekking has a six-day rim-to-rim trip where you'll hike into the canyon. Marty had extensive wilderness experiences throughout his lifetime. I packarafted a small area of the wind river range last July (2016) at the green river lakes trail head/ campground. It was initially (wrongly) reported in the news as a packrafting fatality. The vastness of the wilderness virtually demanded that I go see it. TRAIL DAYS ONLINE! I cancelled a river trip the next day on that note and went day hiking instead. Satellite imagery shows large rapids just out of sight from his probable put in. Lander, WY 82520. 7. With 130 glaciers, 1,300 alpine lakes, and 30 peaks over 13,000 feet, it's no wonder the Winds have made their place on thousands of backpacker's bucket lists. Get unlimited access to all our online education (*Unlimited membership required). All recordings are now online! Luc, thanks for caring, researching, and publishing! But it could have easily been a packrafter (everything leading to the fatality eg. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. As always, the trip was more than I expected and I had a great time. Get our free Handbook and Receive our weekly newsletter to see what's new at Backpacking Light! Based on his YouTube channel, hidasurf might only have had three months experience, liked running steep creeks at shallow water (Class II-III), and was often or always paddling alone. Youll find picture perfect stops at Worthen Reservoir, as well as Frye, Fiddlers and Louis lakes. Continuing to encourage drysuit use in the packrafting community is important. For our summer vacation in 2015 we decided to spend a week in August backpacking the Wind River Range in Wyoming. With at risk kids we took 6-9 days but you could do it faster. Sometime I will get down to this country. I am a life-long whitewater kayaker and just getting into packrafting. Or you can rent a canoe or kayak at Louis Lake Lodge and have a fun overnight stay. About 2 minutes into this run he went over a hole and flipped. I'm packrafting the 117-mile-long Tay, Scotland's longest and most powerful river, from source to sea, and this kind of excitement is par for the course. My chest is 45" and so this is the size I weighed. My route started and ended at Green river lakes area, went up lakeside trail to porcupine trail, lost trail for a mile then re-found it in a sound of music like meadow (saw some nice trout in the pools of this meadow stream), camped just short of intersection between south gypsum trail and porcupine pass, had a moose visitation just after sunset, next morning hiked straight up porcupine pass into beautiful mountain meadow with small stream (from melting snow spots) and what appeared to be cranberry bushes, stoutly in bloom, continued to new fork porcupine trail, then turned left to clark creek trail, did some tenkara fly fishing at Kenny lake (lake full of small trout, seemed like brown and brook trout, a bite on nearly every cast even with 10-15mph winds) set up camp at said lake; morning continued on down clark creek trail, (took a dip in Clark lake, that really woke me up) eventually joined highline trail and as soon as could see river walked through meadow, inflated boat and weaved through the river meadow after some time river became clogged with non-runnable wood jammed sieved out boulder gardens, very beautiful; I began to exhaustively portage around these obstacles eventually deflating and rejoining highline trail, setup camp approximately directly across from square top mountain. Post new content to the community including gear swaps, reviews, trip reports and more! With ten easily accessible trailheads, it's a cinch to get to the slopes of the Wind River Mountain Range. While the second highest peak in Wyoming - the Grand Teton - is located in the Teton Range, the next 19 tallest mountains in the state are also in the Wind River Range. I wonder if we should compile a few near miss case studies too. Virginia resident Peter Jolles, 46, was reported overdue at a Bugaboo Creek takeout, British Columbia, and has not yet been located. The Wind River Range mountains are very different from peaks in Colorado. Hi Jay, yeah, a $50 PFD and $600 drysuit might have saved three of these lives. in his pockets, which would have worked against his PFDs buoyancy. Great shot, Ryan! If you already have some fly fishing skills, you could enjoy a day trip by the water. The group was evacuated three days later by helicopter. He checked in with his PLB the evening before. I find the notion of the torso light torso burrito "interesting.". The consistent theme in these fatalities is getting separated from boats and partners, typically in cold and/or surprisingly swift (high) water. Queenstown man killed in rafting accident was passionate about wildlifeRiver description: Caples River. I am sure that a custom PFD could be created that weighs less than the MTI Livery but, the safety tolerance would probably be lower. There's the Caribou, Forager, Gnarwhal, Wolverine, Scout and Explorer 42, as well as the Classic Series. we offer plenty of courses that include rafting, canoeing, kayaking, packrafting and rescue. In the absence of a real freeze-up before your trip, I imagine it will be fine but there may be a few cobble bars youll have to walk or scoot through. To the degree possible, these incidents were used to inform the content of The Packraft Handbook. Separation has been due to rapids, inexperience, or high winds. The highest point on this loop is Texas Pass at 11,500 feet above sea level. 51 cumecs on Saturday, 40 on Sunday. Marty then led the group from shore down stream. Contrary to the marketing hype I read, they weren't lighter than the comparable PFDs with foam sorry Roman. 2 packrafts and 2 paddles were lost, one paddle and 1 packraft remained. A huge boat probably won't go, but some people do take smaller paddle rafts down the whitewater section when it's above 800 CFS or so. They're not so hot for whitewater and can't punch you out of a hole well. All boaters had dry suits, helmets and PFDs. First, the range is extremely remote. They have seven options for rafts, plus a range of accessories and spare parts. If you get hot, jump in the river for a cool down. Wind River Country has leading experts who can teach you the skills, ensure you and the fish are kept safe and guarantee some big catches! August 17, 2015 Backpacking Trips, Featured Trip Reports, Trip Reports. Even here in the Southeast, the rule is dress for the swim. Lacking a major mining boom like the Colorado Silver Boom, few access roads pierce the range, requiring long backpacking trips to penetrate the range and reach the highest peaks. Thanks for your post. You can find an even bigger list here. For sometime going here to the Verde and the Mazatzal in the winter to hike and wander for abit has been big on my list. Wow, I just found this. During the passage of the rapid, all our three boats were overturned, two of us managed to reach the right bank. And theres something for everyone: whether youre looking for a mild day relaxing by the water, or a wild multi-day adventure, weve got something for you. I bought the Kokatat Swift Entry drysuit with relief zipper. This is the first packraft fatality on record, and predates the modern era of packrafts designed for downriver travel, circa 2000. On Thu, Aug 15, 2019 at 6:53 PM Things To Luc At wrote: > lucmehl posted: Close calls are abundant within the packrafting > community, fatalities have been rare. I would guess that the upper lake would also fish well. Or the Outfitters of the Wyoming Wilderness and Bear Basin Adventures in Dubois offer customizable pack trips with professional guides. The geography of the west has become familiar to him. Thanks to Konstantin Gridnevskiy and Taras Popov for sharing this information. Richard, I *normally* use an SOS inflatable BUT I forgot it in the car, so I wasn't wearing a PFD. Packrafting Escalante River. But its only a matter of time. The Wilderness Classic participants generally do not use drysuits. My trip reports: backpackandbeer.blogspot.com. He was always willing and ready to teach, to talk, to listen, to do another hike, or to lie low in camp if we were beat. An Englishman was separated from his packraft while attempting a two kilometer lake crossing in Argentina. He probably fell out of his raft, got seperated from it, and drowned in the icy water. Im looking forward to not updating this page. I believe he had some gear essentials (stove, etc.) The Wrangells traverse is an Alaskan classic and is often the first route that gets recommended when discussing packrafting in the last frontier. A wonderful adventure and I would like to return next year for a longer, more challenging trip. Most parties use either gullible friends or commercial shuttles. I need survival and misc gear in my PFD firestarting kit, knife, whistle, camera, and a snack. Ever had the shell balloon while swimming if so what happened? Stephen Andrew Bowler, 30, died in a packrafting incident on the Caples River, New Zealand. Even the low point along this trip (Big Sandy Trailhead) is at 9,100 feet, so you'll be at high elevation for the duration of the trip. The major difference is the inability of the packrafts to edge as aggressively. Experience the grandeur of wilderness and the excitement of river travel on this clear and beautiful river. Waters with > Class 3 or strainers etc. It ended up being a two minute swim. The second boater attempting to land river left flipped and lost his boat. CCK has a three weekend series which will safely teach you the basics on the South Fork of the American River's class 2 sections. Check out Lander-based Wyoming Rivers Cooperative for details (they also offer incredible rafting trips). Alpacka is one of the top brands for packrafts, and Back Country is where you can find their packrafts in the UK. AQUA BOUND Sting Ray Fiberglass Kayak Paddle - Fiberglass Shaft/Composite Blade, 2 Piece (Snap. Didnt bring an axe or crampons. I've posted more photos and comments from this trip here: Packrafting in the Winds @ RyanJordan.com. Theres beautiful hiking in the area, for after you get your fill of time on the water. The first two gorges feature Class III/IV drops and frequent wood hazards. The Forager, Gnarwhal and Wolverine are from . Marty was swift water rescue trained, as was boater #3. It is likely that a dry suit would have made a huge difference. Martys was custom extended approx. ago. No intent to chide. It's also certainly possible that I'm missing something here, so don't want to get to far up on the soapbox, but this strikes me as a really poor idea. Hoping to find something under the 2 pound mark.. Ryan mentioned a 14 oz pfd here, but never said what brand it was. It appears to have been windy on the fjord on the day he disappeared. Enjoy short, easy day hikes or more intense backpacking trips, depending on what wets your whistle. A two car shuttle for a party of 4-5 can involve 938 km for one vehicle. A small amount of each fee goes into (very) slowly building up PRANZ funds: For future projects which could involve training subsidies, maybe legal fees for the court battle to prevent a company damming a fantastic packrafting river The future is uncertain, and PRANZ wants to be in a position to help defend our packrafting opportunities. Nahuel Huapi took them by surprise with violent waves, hit their boats and threw them into the water. A second boater was able to recover her boat, presumably re-enter, and paddle to shore. One article suggests that he was missing for days, but I suspect this is just a google translate issue. Wow, Richard, awesome data! A much cheaper, and smarter, alternative is to rent a packraft from Packraft America. Looks like an awesome trip. A guidebook describes the area above and below this section as Class V. Neither Class V section is scoutable from the road. In and looked downriver, Tim said to reach the right bank kayaking, packrafting and rescue the.! 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