Packrafting Down Under

The fact that climate change is exaggerating extremes was easy to see as we arrived in New Zealand two months after the largest floods in 40 years and spent two and half weeks boating during a record breaking drought.  We did find water however, and took Alpacka’s new White Water boat for some fun rides throughout the incredible two islands.  Our journey took us from Auckland down to Murchison where we ran the Matakitaki and Buller before heading to the infamous west coast. Over a few beers in Hokatika we talked to local boaters about the low flows and potential runs. We decided to hike into a classic helicopter run on the Arahura. The scenery was wild and after taking our time to film and photograph on the 10 mile hike in we were left only with the afternoon to boat out. Because of the low water a normal 4-5 hour run took us almost seven hours and many portages to reach the top of the last gorge.

 Full Video: Low Flow Hunters

Beautiful Arahura

With darkness impending we choose to stash our boats and return in the morning to finish the run.  The plentiful sand fly bites didn’t keep us from sleeping well that night after a full 14-hour day of paddling and hiking. The next morning we finished running the “cesspool “ after an exciting portage on the first drop.   

Decisions Decisions

With minimal flows on the west coast we drove south Queens Town in search of bigger water. We found it. The rapid Citron promptly trounced us and quickly put some things in perspective. These boats are meant for back-country runs with lower flows and not your class IV-V big pushy water.  Weighing just over 13lb they have a way of making themselves at home in big holes and not standing up for themselves against huge laterals.  

Walker Takes a Beating

I had big dreams of dispelling the idea that all packrafters are swimmers now that we have this new boat, but unfortunately we did nothing but reinforce it. They continue to get easier to role but with their wide base it takes some getting use to. We decided to take the boats back to their home environment and did a two-day hike into some Lord of the Rings worthy mountains.  This trip into the Lansbourogh included real Kiwi “track” that took us over a pass that gained and lost almost 10,000 vertical ft in 2 miles. Not a switchback to be found and with 50lb packs proved to be a memorable two miles. 

The boat out took us through some beautiful valleys and provided some fun class III and in less than 5 hours we were back at the road. This is what the boats are meant for: compressing what would have been 16 hours of painful hiking into 5 hours of stunning paddling.  Our trip concluded as we headed north back to Auckland and running Maria Falls and the classic Kaituna run 3 times. It was a glorious two and half weeks that taught us a lot about the boats and let us see a truly spectacular country.

Burning Man

As if Mumbai India and Las Vegas had a child in the middle of nowhere Burning Man is like nothing else in this world. The energy of an army going to war motivated by complete opposite ideals. Photography was like taking candy from a baby, every direction there was something more outlandish, beautiful, and photogenic than the previous. By the end of the week it was easy to understand why thousands call it “Home”.  The pictures are just the beginning; the organism called burning man more than anything I have been part of is something that must be experienced to be understood.  

Headwaters of the Kern

Entrance Falls of the Villecito

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On the 7^th of July I rolled out of Jackson with everything I owned stuffed in every corner of my car. I drove down to Mancos Colorado to see the manufacturing of Alpacka Rafts and do some world-class creeking outside of Durango. After boating the mile long section of the Villecitio and seeing how the boats are produced I started off toward LA where the next big adventure would begin.

Luke Walker selecting what would be needed and what would not.

After 12 hours of driving I arrived in the sprawling city and immediately starting packing for a 75 mile, 5 day adventure. The trip would take Luke Walker and myself up the highest peak in the lower 48 and down 50+ miles of the Kern River. After finishing packing we ran the shuttle and fell asleep at the trailhead just after 2 am. Seconds after laying out our sleeping bags Luke gave warning call before jumping into the car to avoid any more confrontation with a black bear 15ft way. I quickly followed suit and we watched the bear strolled by our sleeping bags and onto the next campsite. 

With little motivation to set up any other sleeping arrangements we looked at each other shrugged, placed our bear spray where it was easily accessible, and passed out under the stars. 6:00AM came too soon, but we packed up, and were hiking by 7:00. The 5000 ft climb to 13,000ft  with 70lb packs put us in our place. We dropped our packs and slowly made it up the last 1,500ft. After summiting Whitney we stumbled off the opposite side of the peak back down to 11,000 ft and quickly fell asleep after a memorable sunset above Guitar Lake.

The next morning we hiked 12 miles and arrived at the headwaters of the Kern River. We excitedly and, as we would soon find, preemptively inflated our boats. The first four hundred yards was a tease as we easily floated through the shallow flat water. The next 3 miles and 3.5 hours, however, proved similar to being in the back seat of a car on a long road trip with an older brother. Although character building, the experience was far from fun as we bumped our boats down the shallow rocky creek bed.  The 6% snow pack the winter had provided was far from enough this late in the season. We finally called it a night, had a hot meal, and easily fell asleep on granite slabs.

By 7:30 we had strapped our boats and all our wet gear to our packs, found the trail, and headed down the canyon with hopes of more water. Seven miles down river we again set up or boats and happily took our loads off. With portages and a winding river we made slow, but steady progress until we hit gorge that provided continuous class V. That evening we painstakingly picked our way down the steep gorge through ten or so drops constantly scouting or portaging. After a few hours of this we began questioning if walking was a needed step to allow us to make it out in time so people wouldn’t start looking for us. Again we decided to hoof it and bushwhacked our way to the trail with our awkwardly big backs.

The third day we hiked until the river became manageable and had gained a few more CFS. At this point the canyon decided we had paid our dues and granted us two continuous days of exactly what we were looking for; fairly continuous class III-IV boating with few portages, fun drops, and perfect weather. The final days made the trip the best paddling adventure of my life and added to the hundreds of places I hope to return.

Getting buzzed by F16s, scariest part of the trip

Debating best line on Kern Falls if we were to ever run it. Not this trip