Learning to Packraft

For those of you that have been following along with the prep for our Alaskan adventure, you likely remember that a large portion of the trip will involve packrafting. The kicker? Neither Will nor I have ever packrafted in our lives! Because of this, we decided that it would probably be a good idea to figure out these rafts before we are smack in the middle of Gates of the Arctic National Park. You know, because I’m all about preparedness and all….

Luckily, Amy Hatch of Jackson Hole Packraft: Packraft Rental Anywhere was very accommodating and hooked Will and I up with some rafts so we could practice! They arrived this past Thursday, and admittedly, I was a bit shocked. I mean, look at these things—they look like inflatable duckies!

I trusted Amy (and the rest of the packrafting world!), so instead of shipping them straight back to her and calling it a day, we decided to take the rafts up to the mountains this past weekend for my Colorado Triathlon. Unfortunately, the event got—quite literally—rained and snowed out, so we sadly drove our packrafts back to Denver without having tried them out. Naturally, we couldn’t ship the packrafts back to JHP without trying them, so we came up with a Plan B: we would walk ourselves down to the lake by our house and try them out there!

Unfortunately, that didn’t work so well either since our home lake apparently doesn’t allow single-chamber inflatable rafts. Sad, but not defeated, we moved onto Plan C: we would drive ourselves over to another lake that was only 5 minutes away!

We arrived, and I immediately realized that we wouldn’t be carrying any pumps into the backcountry of Alaska….so how would we inflate these rafts? Let me show you!

(And for the record, I obviously didn’t realize that Will was filming…hence the reason I call him a jackass!)

Now, isn’t that nifty? You catch air in that pouch and roll it up, forcing air into the raft! It only took me a few minutes and it wasn’t difficult at all. Score!

After finally inflating the packrafts, we headed out onto the pond. Granted, this pond is smack in the middle of a neighborhood, so we weren’t exactly riding the whitewater. However, it did give us both plenty of time to figure out just how the rafts move. First observation? Those suckers are responsive! If you paddled left, the packraft would jerk to the right and vice versa. I initially thought I would be all skilled and smooth with the rowing, but I quickly realized I would be happy with forward progress.

See how the packraft bobs left and right? I wonder if that will still do that when we are in a river with rapids instead of a glassy lake!

In short, Will and I both realized that packrafts can be a lot of fun. They only weigh around 5 pounds, so we’re already plotting how we can obtain some of our own to take adventuring whenever we want. I mean, I can handle an extra 5 pounds in my backpack just for some river-floating goodness in the backcountry!

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Additionally, I have to add that Amy and JHP have phenomenal customer service. This doesn’t directly relate to learning how to packraft, but it’s a story that needs to be shared. I’m currently sitting at DIA, waiting to fly out to Salt Lake for the summer OR Show, and this story is at the forefront of my brain. Amy had shipped the packrafts to me with an included packing slip for the return voyage. In order to accommodate her tight turnaround schedule with the rafts, I hurried to FedEx yesterday to drop the rafts in the mail with the included slip. Know where this is going yet?

Sure as shit, I was shocked when Will and I headed out the front door this evening to drive to the airport and lo and behold, the FedEx box was sitting on OUR doorstep! Yup, I accidentally used the old packing slip and shipped the rafts back to myself. Seriously, who does that?! I panicked because I knew Amy wouldn’t get them in time for her next customers, so we zoomed over to FedEx to overnight them.

For the record? Overnighting packrafts is expensive! When the FedEx lady told me $250, I almost cried. I was going to pay it, but I was so mad at myself for making such a stupid and costly mistake! Luckily, Will is far more level-headed than I am and already had Amy on the phone. He communicated the situation with her and she explained an alternate way we could get the rafts back to her, without me having to pay $250. She was so helpful and thoughtful in the wake of my ridiculous idiocy. So you see? She is awesome to work with too. If you’re ever interested in packrafting, she ships EVERYWHERE, so definitely check her out!

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Are you into water sports? Ever tried (or heard of!) packrafting?