6. Life on the river is sensational. This is only .06 lbs heavier than the SOS Scout inflatable suspenders before any modifications to lighten them. From the Elkhart trailhead parking lot, take the Pole Creek Trail directly adjacent to . As one paddles the smaller lake it transitions from Gatorade colored to clear. 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. Theres a boat ramp and full marina to help meet your needs, and the serenity of the still water makes a perfect spot for some quality bird watching. Youll live with the sun and relish in the outstanding combination of mellow current pulling your boat along and the excitement of stretches of rapids. Hoping to find something under the 2 pound mark.. Ryan mentioned a 14 oz pfd here, but never said what brand it was. The Wind River Range runs along the Continental Divide and boasts some high elevations. The timing was good, no bugs due to the nightly freezes, good water level too, wouldnt want to run this with < 1000 cfs though. We do some river canoeing and sea kayaking, now I have to add desert paddling to the to-do list. Expect the unexpected and prepare to be flexible. I bought the Kokatat Swift Entry drysuit with relief zipper. We are positioned for easy access to many Wyoming Rivers and currently offer raft and packraft trips on the Popo Agie River, Wind River, Sweetwater River, and Green River. Post new content to the community including gear swaps, reviews, trip reports and more! The APA Forum has a place for reporting accidents, but it doesnt get any use. Im happy that we havent had any fatalities in New Zealand that Im aware of. No intent to chide. 6hrs round trip. mkset.ru (Russian)KP.RU (Russian)Gorobzor.ru (Russian)GTRK TV (Russian). What sort of construction keeps it dry? The trip can also be combined with the Arrigetch Peaks Backpacking Trip.. Departs from Fairbanks, AK. An alpine valley at over 10,500 feet deep in the Wind River Range, Titcomb Basin lies below peaks on the Continental Divide that soar 3,000 feet above the Titcomb Lakes, the highest of which is 13,745-foot Fremont Peak. Mostly Class II. Experience the grandeur of wilderness and the excitement of river travel on this clear and beautiful river. Pretty depressing to see fatalities related to no-PFD. Find more at kathrynmontana.com and @kathrynmontana. My chest is 45" and so this is the size I weighed. (put in directly across from square top) paddled out by noon across both lakes; fish start appearing and jumping at beginning confluence of second larger lake. Ran this section another time then drove home. No wildlife except for one Moose on the bank. . When the wind comes from the north, the temperature can drop to below freezing. Marty lived above the Matanuska River near the Lions Head run. The Wind River offers a great mix of packrafting, hiking, fishing, and wildlife. The geography of the west has become familiar to him. Get unlimited access to all our online education (*Unlimited membership required). The fourth boater exited river left then searched down stream with #2. I went to a couple of paddling shops and weighed all of the L/XL PFDs they had on display. I underestimated the river and capsized in a river-wide ledge. 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. If the paddle leash is strong enough to hold a pinned boat or paddler in mild current, it is a potential killer. He checked in with his PLB the evening before. American Whitewater Incident ReportJohn Quimby, personal communication. It is a harsh environment with very short summers, 24-hour daylight, strong winds, unrelenting terrain, grizzly bears, wolves, hazardous rivers, and no help for as far as you can imagine. 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. Wind River Country reservoirs and lakes are really fun for stand up paddleboarding. The Wind's crystal-clear waters are perfect and you can hike the alpine ridges. Below Smith Rock are some meaty . The water was high, estimated at three times median flow. The ideal packrafting PFD. Hi all, this is a very old thread but thought Id see if anyone out there has any current info. Jaymes H. Schoenberg (22) and a partner used packrafts to cross the swollen Sagavanirktok River en route to Arctic Village. I have led several canoe/backpack loops of the Bigelow range and Flagstaff lake in western Maine. Our water! The common themes in these > accidents are cold, surprisingly swift water, and insufficie >. After contact by cell phone they walked out to Mat Glacier view area. P.K. Wind River Mountain Range. This feature requires an active Backpacking Light Membership. ago. Ben Kilbourne has been backpacking since his days in the womb. On July 15, 2017 river level was slightly higher than Martys highest run (number not recorded). The paddler was in their 70s, and it is suspected that their paddle leash snagged the debris. I am a life-long whitewater kayaker and just getting into packrafting. In this case it is likely that Peter didnt get to see the hardest rapids from the road, he was in a boat that wasnt designed for whitewater, the water was high, wood was likely in the river, and maybe the biggest hole: he was paddling alone. I considered the same old loops. The Wind River Range offers some breathtaking views and is teeming with wildlife of all kinds. we offer plenty of courses that include rafting, canoeing, kayaking, packrafting and rescue. I have worn my Kokatat Swift Entry Dry Suit while running <50 degree water on the Animas with air temps around 85 degrees and the Gunnison with air temps of 95 degrees. In the northern end of the range the shrinking glaciers provide enough water to keep some of them floatable throughout the summer. The river primarily has boatable flows in the spring, and during summer monsoons. Select a suitable river (class 1 -2 ) by picking one . Yalil also had fishing equipment and a perimeter line on the bow that ripped through one of the tie-down attachment points. Join the mailing list Receive emails with resources & training opportunities "Start and End at Home" Online trip and emergency planning course "Paddle Up a Level" Online packrafting course "Wild Ice" Online ice safety course River safety & rescue Packraft-specific rescue and skill instruction; Mind & Mountain My wife Sarah's awesome fitness programs: Ski . You base camp on the river and paddle a different section each day. I tried to synthesize a decision matrix, if interested, you can find it on the Alpacka Raft blog (https://www.alpackaraft.com/rafting/should-it-stay-or-should-it-go/). His experiences on the land, whether triumphant or thwarted by events either in or out of his control, have provided the foundation for the work he does. The rapids consist of steep drops and boulder gardens, as described in this link: river description (go to [4]). Insufficient safety equipment (PFD and/or drysuit) was common in the earlier incidents, and perhaps less so more recently. He was paddling down the fjord during a multi-day trip. in his pockets, which would have worked against his PFDs buoyancy. From Mild to Wild, Exploring Wind River Countrys Waterways. For those with packrafting skills, this route offers a quick, easy-to-access, multi-sport adventure. But that just wasnt going to cut it for me this time. Then carry on, this time using your arms not your legs. I find the notion of the torso light torso burrito "interesting.". He road scouted a section of the Bugaboo and determined that it was below his skill level. A wonderful adventure and I would like to return next year for a longer, more challenging trip. Starting on the open tundra, it flows beneath limestone spires, past glacial lakes, and through the boreal forests of northern Alaska. Youll sleep with the relaxing sound of the water and learn how to leave the places you travel through better than you found them. 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. Wind River Canyon Whitewater and Fly Fishing. This is the third open water packraft fatality on record, highlighting the danger of open water crossings. The Hollyford-Pyke loop is probably NZ's most classic packrafting trip. 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. 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. Best way to do this run would be to camp or stash equipment at the head of the second lake or at the rapid visible from the trail (there was even a tree in the rapid), and walk in the rest of the way to the put-in with only the boat. Astral and Norge are the two primary manufacturers of this PFD type. The third boater noted Marty floating face up, pursued, caught and swam Marty to shore on river right, where CPR was unsuccessful. April 18-23, 2021, Wind River Range (beginning of Sept 2021), Upper Toklat River (Denali NP) - mid-August 2018, Republic Pass Trail North Absaroka into Yellowstone Cache Creek and Lamar River, trip report: Wind River Range Ross Lakes, Bear Basin, Grasshopper Glacier, & Dinwoody Creek loop, Aug-Sep 2020, Yellowstone advice: Lamar River - Pelican Valley - Mirror Plateau loop this summer. Packrafts are known as very forgiving crafts. Wow, I just found this. Titcomb Basin. Backpacking in the Wind River Range. While the water is flat and calm as it passes the dramatic cliffs in the state park, right above it is continuous class IV with some short flat areas and only a few access points into the canyon. 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! The second boater attempting to land river left flipped and lost his boat. Is the Aug 24-25 class still a go? 1 Thunder River Tr.-->Esplanade-->Tapeats-->Deer. Stephens boat was punctured and his helmet showed signs of impact, but not necessarily from this incident. Login or become a member to post in the member forums! A good starting point is to keep a visual of this model in mind, recognize and acknowledge all of the little decisions that can lead to an incident. Backpacking Light community posts are moderated and here to foster helpful and positive discussions about lightweight backpacking. Care to give any thoughts on this shelter? Anfibio is also making a really light, less that 2 pound, dry suit. These are the fatalities Im familiar > with; all but one have occurred in Alaska. No direction but to follow what you know. These packrafts are designed for excitement whether bouncing down a river or cruising over wave trains. When you stand on the edge of a cool mountain river or lake and cast, youre given a chance to slow down and listen to the crickets and birds chirping, watch the sunlight stream through a lodgepole pine and smell the fresh mountain air. Who knows it could be helpful context for someone reading this to shape their own decisions. I am most familiar with California Canoe and Kayak (CCK) classes and guides in Northern CA. For fisherman an Alpacka in the Winds is an ideal way to fish some of the remote alpine lakes in search of the elusive goldon trout. But if Im going to be taking several days off from work, I want the intention behind a trip to make me feel like every moment is worthwhile. Wind River Range North: Beartooth Publishing; USGS 7.5 minute topographical Maps: New Fork Lakes; Squaretop Mountain; and Gannett Peak available at www.store.usgs.gov; Books: Ron Adkison, Hiking Wyoming's Wind River Range. Wind is a common factor in open water incidents. Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled, http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=54904743/a=25662137_25662137/t_=25662137, http://jhpackraft.com/packraft-info/trip-ideas/, http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=09188500, http://wyomingnaturalist.com/river_green_warren.html. He camped on the northern shore of the Thingvallavatn lake the evening before he went missing. after a looong drive today but couldn't resist posting this photo, taken this morning during a packrafting descent of Boulder Creek in WY's Wind Rivers: Thanks to my partner, Joel Walthall (BPL Sales Mgr) for taking a GREAT shot for me! Body Glove mens 3t Cinch-m Water Shoe, Black/Yellow, 11 US. Be more. The hike up to Berry Pass is seriously underrated, and the views of the 20 Mile watershed are absolutely . MODIS, Sentinel 1&2, Landsat, Google Earth, ESRI, etc. afternoon naps were a requirement on Saturday and Sunday; these dogs were barkin! Or the Outfitters of the Wyoming Wilderness and Bear Basin Adventures in Dubois offer customizable pack trips with professional guides. 3 miles of this was really fun class II+ starting just before Moose Creek Rd junction. Backcountry access Bettles, AK. The adventure range of packrafts are versatile and varied. It appears to have been windy on the fjord on the day he disappeared. Have a look at our selection of paddles which have been specifically chosen designed and tested for packrafting. 7. The river, which holds more water than . It appears to have been windy on the day of the accident. This is the first packraft fatality on record, and predates the modern era of packrafts designed for downriver travel, circa 2000. Yukon . 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. 5.0. Close calls are abundant within the packrafting community, serious injuries and fatalities have been rare. However, as the water makes its way out of the mountains it negotiates deep granite gorges. 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. It's risky. It is not clear if they were in the boat or swimming when they came into contact with the debris. 08/19/21 we all successfully passed the Straight Rapid on the Levaya Mama River (category 3). I ran in from Beaver Park about 10 days ago at 420 CFS, https://waterdata.usgs.gov/wy/nwis/uv?site_no=09188500. Wondering if this is true or if maybe there are a few lurking in there? He allowed Adrian and me to hike at our own pace and he encouraged all of us to explore the area surrounding our campsites. 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. You can expect to learn about local fauna, see magical sights and catch some really big fish! Sometime I will get down to this country. Make sure you have your biggest net ready to go. I appreciate the swiss-cheese model of incident causation to visualize this incidents occur when a bunch of small holes line up perfectly wrong. Satellite imagery shows large rapids just out of sight from his probable put in. We are lucky enough to be located 10 minutes walk from the diverse Murrumbidgee river.