Packrafting

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Adventure as Art

Adventure as Art

Beni Moryson, host of the German ultralight blog hrXXlight, asked me to share so...

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All Game Trails Lead to Roman

All Game Trails Lead to Roman

During my first Wilderness Classic, whenever I stumbled out of the alder and ont...

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Origin of a Nine Foot Hot Dog

Origin of a Nine Foot Hot Dog

Food in the Backcountry Every trip into the mountains is different, but they all...

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Village Recreation Programs

Village Recreation Programs

While living in Anchorage I struggle with a lack of connection to village life. ...

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The Adventurer’s Son

The Adventurer’s Son

The Adventurer’s Son, by Roman Dial, will be available February 18th, 2020. Anch...

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For Sale or Trade, One Reverse-Averse Van

For Sale or Trade, One Reverse-Averse Van

I wrote this Craigslist advertisement in 2018 and am belatedly giving it a home ...

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Risk Assessment for Rivers and Avalanches

Risk Assessment for Rivers and Avalanches

Disclaimer: This discussion is based on my personal experience, collaborators’ f...

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Self-publishing an Instructional Book: Part I (Everything up to Printing)

Self-publishing an Instructional Book: Part I (Everythi...

How to self-publish a book! Writing, designing, and printing an instructional book.

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Let’s Talk About Drowning

Let’s Talk About Drowning

An excerpt about drowning from The Packraft Handbook by Luc mehl.

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Show Up and Blow Up

Show Up and Blow Up

The Show Up and Blow Up whitewater packrafting highlight video series.

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May 2021: Promoting the packrafting “Culture of Safety”

May 2021: Promoting the packrafting “Culture of Safety”

Support a global effort to promote messaging that builds a packrafting culture o...

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If my book was a playlist…

If my book was a playlist…

A playlist to accompany The Packraft Handbook. Each chapter has a corresponding ...

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Guide to Buying Used Packrafting Gear

Guide to Buying Used Packrafting Gear

So! You want to buy a packraft - HECK YEAH. Welcome to the coolest community on ...

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Trip Report: San Raphael River - Little Grand Canyon

Trip Report: San Raphael River - Little Grand Canyon

LENGTH: 2 Days/1 NightPADDLE: 18 milesCLASS: Class I (II)SEASON: May 2024CFS: ~2...

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Bob Miller: Champion Team Captain of Two Rivers Adventure Race

Bob Miller: Champion Team Captain of Two Rivers Adventu...

We are excited to share  the following interview with Bob Miller, team captain o...

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Bikerafting in the American West: Top 5 Bike Rafting Trips

Bikerafting in the American West: Top 5 Bike Rafting Trips

Packrafting is great. If you’re reading this, you probably agree. A packraft giv...

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Best Sea Eagle Kayaks For 2025

Best Sea Eagle Kayaks For 2025

Inflatable dinghies, rafts and even kayaks have been around for decades. These d...

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Best Kokopelli Packrafts For 2025

Best Kokopelli Packrafts For 2025

One of the newest products in the paddling world, packrafts have “blown up” in a...

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Best Packrafts For 2025

Best Packrafts For 2025

The greatest innovation to paddlesports in the past two decades is perhaps the m...

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Packrafting Mexico: Promoting Adventure Education in Chiapas

Packrafting Mexico: Promoting Adventure Education in Ch...

“It’s always refreshing to paddle with people who wouldn’t otherwise have the op...

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????Episode #11 Packraft Design: The Process of Creating High-Performance Inflatable Boats

????Episode #11 Packraft Design: The Process of Creatin...

inflation manipulation: how alpacka raft’s team designs its high-performance whi...

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Greetings from Scullbinder Ranch: Bad news & how the Federal Worker Purge May Affect Four Corners Guides

Greetings from Scullbinder Ranch: Bad news & how the Fe...

Dear friends, I write this to you after spending the day writing letters, emails...

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????Episode #12 Leveling Up in Packrafting: When, How, What to Look Out For, with Dan Thurber

????Episode #12 Leveling Up in Packrafting: When, How, ...

When should a Packrafter push them/her/himself to the next level? And how will t...

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Off-Grid Heat Sealing Irons

Off-Grid Heat Sealing Irons

I’ll admit I was skeptical when forum member @oldcanuck first emailed to say he ...

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Iron Modifications

Iron Modifications

Michael from Hamburg, Germany, emailed to show me how he cleverly modified his h...

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Top 10 Multiday Packrafting River Trips

Top 10 Multiday Packrafting River Trips

Packrafts open up a whole new way to experience rivers. With a packraft, it's ea...

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6 Essential Packrafting Items You Need For Fall

6 Essential Packrafting Items You Need For Fall

With these paddling gear options, you can hike in, bike in or get dropped off an...

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Landsborough River Beta

Landsborough River Beta

The number of people lately who have gotten in touch about the Landsborough Rive...

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Let’s Go Packrafting! Giveaway & Survey ⼮ and the 5 winners are…

Let’s Go Packrafting! Giveaway & Survey ⼮ and the 5 wi...

⬇enter here⬇ How to enter… Sign up with a valid email to be entered to win. You ...

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????Episode #10: Thor Tingey Talks Hunt Packrafting & Packraft Fly Fishing

????Episode #10: Thor Tingey Talks Hunt Packrafting & P...

In this episode, Alpacka raft CEO, Thor Tingey, talks about how hunters and angl...

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The Alpacka Raft Mage: Answering Your Questions

The Alpacka Raft Mage: Answering Your Questions

The *New* alpacka Raft Mage – launching 2025​ Please note this is a non-technica...

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Happy New Year From Scullbinder Ranch – Updates, The Mage & More!

Happy New Year From Scullbinder Ranch – Updates, The Ma...

At midnight December 31, 2025, click here to check out Lizzy’s short, sweet over...

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Inflation Bag Boston Valve Adapter

Inflation Bag Boston Valve Adapter

Evan Rodgers emailed to show me this simple and ingenious method of using a seco...

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New Heat Sealing Iron

New Heat Sealing Iron

This iron from Aliexpress was recommended by Bruce Campbell of Fairbanks, Alaska...

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FedEx & Purolator Shipping Available

FedEx & Purolator Shipping Available

As the Canada Post workers strike drags on, I’m working to add new shipping opti...

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Postal Strike Ended (updated)

Postal Strike Ended (updated)

Canada Post is back to work now, and all of your orders are on their way to you....

InReach Fail?

Many of us carry and use InReach communication devices for safety and texting ho...

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Kanger-roo

Kanger-roo

Earlier this month I flew from Anchorage to Keflavik, Iceland and then on to...

The Firn Line

Many years—maybe like two decades ago in the 1990s—Anchorage entrepreneur, Bob ...

Pseudo-Haiku Notebook

We went on a bird-watching centered vacation last Spring Break (2017) in Arizona...

Firn Line Live at Alaska Rock Gym

This was a fun night. Thanks to Evan and the Rock Gym for making it happen. Wha...

Dick Griffith Film Kickstarter

A friend of mine who’s one of the best whitewater boaters I have ever paddled wi...

What color should glacier algae be?

This is an article that came out this month in an international journal on micro...

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Golden Age Nostalgia

Golden Age Nostalgia

After reading Luc Mehl's guest blog at the Alpacka web site I indulged in some n...

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Next Gen

Next Gen

Watching these makes me think I was born 30 years too soon. He has many many m...

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Ten Years and Thirty

Ten Years and Thirty

Last week I went to Revelate Designs' Ten year anniversary party. Revelate is to...

Academic Job at Alaska Pacific University

Hard to believe but after about 25 years, Carl Tobin is retiring from APU, and t...

The Sun is a Compass

Caroline van Hemert and her husband Pat made an epic journey from Bellingham to ...

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The Adventurer's Son

The Adventurer's Son

My book about raising our son, then losing and finding him, is done. Willia...

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Book Release Event: February 19, 2020 at Bear Tooth Theatrepub, Anchorage

Book Release Event: February 19, 2020 at Bear Tooth The...

On Wednesday, February 19 at Anchorage's Bear Tooth Theatrepub, Title Wave B...

More on The Adventurer's Son

Steve Rinella hosted me as a guest on a recent "Meateater Podcast." He's a prett...

A Good Place for FREE Downloads of USGS topo maps to lo...

For old-school, old-dog, old-farts like me, nothing beats the crutch of USGS top...

FLYING SNAKE!

Busy with science in a tropical tree, 200-feet off the ground, I heard a squirre...

Another Podcast: Kirkus Book Reviews

The wild ride through the publishing world has been fascinating. This podcast w...

Fresh Air with Dave Davies

https://www.npr.org/2020/03/03/811708372/a-father-searches-for-his-son-and-answe...

Raftpacking is purposely carrying fewer rafts than the ...

If “packrafting” can be considered walk-assisted boating, then “raftpacking” c...

Alaskan Wilderness Travel Dial-style as of 15 years ago...

 Powerpoint from 2005, when I tried to impress Ned Rozell with my semi-quantitat...

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The Book we've all been waiting for....The Packraft Handbook by Luc Mehl and Sarah Glaser

The Book we've all been waiting for....The Packraft Han...

It’s difficult to imagine a better pair of people to put together a packraftin...

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The Treeline Traverse

The Treeline Traverse

Over the last five years or so, I've been studying treeline advance in the Brook...

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The American Whitewater Accident Database

The American Whitewater Accident Database

A case for reporting packrafting fatalities, injuries, and near misses to the Am...

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South Fork Matanuska Loop

South Fork Matanuska Loop

Packraft and hike trip report from the South Fork Matanuska River, Alaska.

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Self-publishing an Instructional Book: Part II (marketing and sales until the handoff to Mountaineers Books)

Self-publishing an Instructional Book: Part II (marketi...

Marketing and selling a self-published book

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So that’s what varsity trip planning looks like!

So that’s what varsity trip planning looks like!

I want to share a highlight from last year’s Start and End at Home trip planning...

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Dead rabbit saves the day!

Dead rabbit saves the day!

The wild ice skating season is filled with ephemeral goals—evenings spent monito...

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A Hike Along the Northern Alaska Range, Denali National Park

A Hike Along the Northern Alaska Range, Denali National...

A girlfriend of Sarah‘s suggested that we go to Denali National Park for our ann...

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European Packrafting Meetup, Soca River 2018

European Packrafting Meetup, Soca River 2018

Wow, what a weekend! We kept repeating this phrase again and again while relucta...

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Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for packrafting in whitewater.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for packrafting in ...

This is blog post is aimed at paddling whitewater class II and above. However th...

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Best Packrafting Destinations - Month by Month

Best Packrafting Destinations - Month by Month

It's the beginning of a new year and like us you are probably starting to plan w...

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2019 European Packrafting Meet-up

2019 European Packrafting Meet-up

It's May 1st and we are on our way to Soca for the second edition of the Annual ...

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Land + Water = Packraft

Land + Water = Packraft

Ein Packraft ist ein ultra leichtes, aufblasbares und robustes Boot. Es lässt si...

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Packrafting in Sweden & Nordic Roundup

Packrafting in Sweden & Nordic Roundup

As soon as we heard about the Nordic Packrafting Meet-up, we knew that we had to...

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This is Bikerafting - Tips & Video by Deane Parker

This is Bikerafting - Tips & Video by Deane Parker

To the uninitiated, bikerafting must be the weirdest thing! A tiny inflatable ra...

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Paddling to Protect

Paddling to Protect

A packraft can give you access to the places that fuel you. And can also be a to...

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Family Packrafting Guide

Family Packrafting Guide

We often get asked about packrafting with kids and/ or packrafting as a family. ...

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Bikerafting along the Carretera Austral, Chile

Bikerafting along the Carretera Austral, Chile

An epic adventure by packraft and bike - Bikerafting along the Carretera Austral...

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2020 European Packrafting Meet-up & Testival

2020 European Packrafting Meet-up & Testival

This is a very special year and even if the Meet-up happened at a different time...

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Bikerafting in France - Grande traversée du Jura

Bikerafting in France - Grande traversée du Jura

Grande traversée du Jura en BikeRafting 10 jours (possibilité d’itinéraire plus ...

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2021 European Packrafting Meet-up

2021 European Packrafting Meet-up

Hard to believe that this is already the 4th Annual European Packrafting Meet-up...

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Alpacka Valkyrie Packraft Test with Nouria Newman!

Alpacka Valkyrie Packraft Test with Nouria Newman!

Pro kayaker Nouria Newman and Packraft Europe founder Seon Crockford-Laserer tes...

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Packrafting Tagliamento River, Italy

Packrafting Tagliamento River, Italy

Packrafting the Tagliamento river in Italy has been on our wish list for a while...

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Mit Packraft & Gleitschirm auf den Lofoten, Norwegen

Mit Packraft & Gleitschirm auf den Lofoten, Norwegen

Fjorde, Berge und Mitternachtssonne! Mit Bergen kennen sich Marlies und Andreas ...

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2022 EU Packraft Meet-up at Soca river

2022 EU Packraft Meet-up at Soca river

This was the 5th annual EU Packrafting Meet-up and the largest event so far! Wit...

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Packrafting Norway

Packrafting Norway

Norway is on the wishlist for many paddlers and with very good reason. This summ...

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2023 Packrafting Meet-up at Soca River, Slovenia

2023 Packrafting Meet-up at Soca River, Slovenia

This years Roundup was already the 6th edition of the European Packrafting Meet-...

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Packrafting the Karnali River, Nepal

Packrafting the Karnali River, Nepal

Nepal had been a destination I longed to explore, especially after hearing mysti...

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Packrafting the Yellowstone River

Packrafting the Yellowstone River

We had two weeks to play with after Kirk picked me up at the Canadian border...

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First Look at the Six Moon Designs Flex Pack

First Look at the Six Moon Designs Flex Pack

New on the market recently is the Six Moon Designs Flex pack. Designed with wate...

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A Short Paddle on the Upper Middle Deschutes

A Short Paddle on the Upper Middle Deschutes

Sometimes its easy to forget about sections of river that are right under your n...

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Packrafting at Smith Rock on the Crooked River

Packrafting at Smith Rock on the Crooked River

We've been wanting to packraft the Crooked River through the popular climbing ar...

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John Day River

John Day River

It was the weekend, and adventure was at our fingertips. It has been a fairly w...

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Low Flow Owyhee River

Low Flow Owyhee River

I'm getting ready to hike/packraft 175 miles of the Owyhee River on the Ore...

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175.3 miles on the Owyhee River - A solo packrafting adventure on the Oregon Desert Trail

175.3 miles on the Owyhee River - A solo packrafting ad...

What an adventure! I spent the last 12 days hiking and packrafting on the Oregon...

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Addison's Scale, Gear List, Owyhee River

Addison's Scale, Gear List, Owyhee River

I've been done with my Owyhee trip for a week now. Since starting work on t...

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An Oregon Desert Trail Adventure on the Owyhee River

An Oregon Desert Trail Adventure on the Owyhee River

I wrote a blog about the 175 mile hike/packraft of the Owyhee River about my pre...

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Testing Alpacka Raft's new Self Bailer

Testing Alpacka Raft's new Self Bailer

Recently Kirk and I were given the chance to test out Alpacka's new self-bailin...

Blue River, Oregon

It was the weekend... Blue River, baby from Renee Patrick on Vimeo.

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South Fork of the Payette - Sawtooth Wilderness Section

South Fork of the Payette - Sawtooth Wilderness Section

Kirk and I headed to Idaho for a week, and ended up packrafting some on the Midd...

Oregon Desert Trail on Oregon Field Guide

Check out tonight's episode of Oregon Field Guide on the Oregon Desert Trail. I ...

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