Alaska-Yukon Expedition: Packrafting 101

Follow adventurer Andrew Skurka
as he skis, hikes, and rafts 4,720 miles through eight national parks,
two major mountain ranges, and some of North America’s wildest rivers in
Alaska and the Yukon from March to October. Read his blog updates here.

Posted from Cordova, Alaska

Two weeks ago I shipped my skis home and picked up my packraft, which I will carry until the very end of this expedition in October. Most people have never heard of packraft, which Wikipedia defines as “small, portable inflatable boat designed for
use in all bodies of water, including technical whitewater and ocean
bays and fjords.” Here I’ll take a few minutes to introduce readers to this critical piece of gear.

There are several major benefits for me in carrying a packraft. First, I can safely cross big rivers (e.g. the Susitna), glacier-carved fjords (like those in Glacier Bay National Park), and saltwater bays (e.g. Icy and Yakutat Bays). Second, I can utilize gravity to quickly and efficiently travel through wilderness, as opposed to hiking those same stretches—the packraft is easier on the feet, requires fewer calories, and is faster than bushwhacking along the river banks. And, third, the packraft opens up new route opportunities, because without a raft I’m very limited in how far and where I can go—I’d be boxed in by uncrossable bodies of water.

My setup consists of three main parts. My packraft is made by Alpacka, with a few custom modifications to lighten it up (lighter materials, narrower bow). It weighs about 4.5 lbs with a spray deck and costs about $1,000. My paddle is the Sawyer Packraft Paddle, but with a fixed-length shaft instead of the adjustable feather/length feature. It weighs about 25 oz and costs about $250. Finally, I use The Thing from Mountain Laurel Designs as a PFD. This 4-oz $50 vest accommodates three 2L Platypus bottles for floatation (equivalent to 15 lbs), making it far lighter and packable than foam PFDs. It’s not as whitewater worthy as Coast Guard-approved PFD’s but I believe it is adequate for what I am doing during this trip.

The most reliable and capable packrafts are manufactured by Alpacka Raft LLC.
If you don’t need such a robust boat, a Sevylor Trail Boat may do the
trick. There are no other commercial manufacturers of packrafts that I
know of, though with increasing interest in the sport that may change
soon.

If you are interested in learning more about packrafting, I would highly encourage you to read Packrafting by Roman Dial. Also check out Roman’s blog. There are also some very informational forums at www.packrafting.org.