24 Hours: Packrafting the Grande Ronde River

Good read, thanks

I keep eyeing that area for a late winter backpack, maybe up the Wenaha from Troy. You have only whetted my appetite.

Ryan nicely done video and I loved the story. Sometimes a daring armature's trip creates a much more exciting story than a perfectly executed trip by an expert. Sometime I gotta write up my near death experience kayaking on a flooded river.
Keep up coming and if you have any more of those, shall we say "learning experiences" I'd love to hear them.

Ryan,
I could share with you a story of nearly drowning in the Narrows as a young man. Thanks for posting this adventure and for the great pictures. Having grown up in the area I'm feeling a little homesick and will likely have bad dreams about relentless whitewater but reading the article is worth it.

When floating the Grande Ronde you hear the "Narrows" long before you see the intimidating (for me) stretch of whitewater. Putting out on the left bank above the rapids allows you the opportunity to survey the approaching challenge and plot strategy/survival. Back in the water, having hopefully selected to best line, it is a true commitment with no turning back. Once you have dropped into the "Narrows" the only way out is to make it to the other end, with or without your raft!

Ryan

That was a GREAT trip report and video! What was your initial impression of the Alpacka dry suit?

Nice trip report, Ryan! Yeah, the tenkara rods are not exactly designed to let a fish run. Too bad you lost the rod, always annoying…

Steelhead are noted for tail walking and other acrobatics. Once they decide on a direction, often the only thing you can do is throw them slack enough to let them think they "escaped". Not something you can do with a tenkara.

Ryan,

A question on your feet – would you say your system keep your feet dry, wet but warm, or wet and chilly. If you were planning a much longer trip, say a one to two week trip in conditions around freezing, would you change anything with your footwear system?

Edited for second question after watching your video.

The neck gasket looks very loose on you. Is that how it came, or did you stretch/trim it to make it more comfortable?

Excellent. Excellent. Excellent.

Thanks!
I'm inspired…

Which "21-foot Daiwa" did you use?

Sounds like a typical Wazzu Cougar…. I miss Pullman. I graduated in CE in 89.
I wish at that time I was as adventurous as I am today.

Ryan,
You are on a roll at the moment. Fine fine work.
Thanks

Ryan, another stunning vid – inspiring, beautiful, well done!

Really enjoyed it! Checking the weather now to see which gear to pack for the weekend after this inspirational video.
24-48 hour adventures, fly fishing and packrafting are "food for my soul".
I can't thank you enough. It was on backpackinglight.com years ago that I was first introduced to the Packraft. Now its hard for me to imagine back country travel along a trout stream without it.

Thanks Ryan!

Excellent Stuff! 24 hours is a nice round number.

Ryan,

I love 24 series and your filming of backpacking!

Killer. I enjoyed this very much Ryan.

Thanks Ryan. Excellent report, video and write up! Have you had any past success landing a steelhead on a Tenkara rod?

Great video. Was that a HMG Porter that you where using for a pack? Been thinking about getting one. Haven't decided between the Porter and the Windrider 3400.

I'm pretty sure that was an Expedition pack. Ryan mentioned it in his photo essay on the Lamar and reviewed it with Chris Wallace a while back.

Great video Ryan.

I hope BPL will be doing more videos in the future as part of the articles on gear reviews, sotm, trip reports and so on…

/Peter

Thanks Luke.

Superb video and article, Ryan.

It's good that you promote these 24 trips, as for many of us that are the only possible trips at the moment =) I'm looking at 24 possibilities myself right now because of this one!

Yet another excellent article Ryan, which provides lots of information. What weight of cuben is your shelter, .51 oz/sqyd or heavier? I assume your are still using your ID event bivy. It seems that you and I had the same problem with the threads on our jetboils. Your comments on gear and why you packraft are always enlightening, and increasingly convince me that I should play with a packraft.

Thanks again, looking forward to your next adventure.

Whoa…how many years have I been following BPL, and I just now hear of this story? Someone has been holding out on us!

Great 24 hr trip report and video.

Tom

@Richard Nisley – my initial impression of the dry suit is that it's well done. I have questions about long term durability. I waded up to my chest in it and really enjoyed the one-piece sealed suit for cold weather floating comfort – much better than raingear or splash gear when you're spending most of your time wet.

@Paul Mountford – my footwear system kept my feet warm and wet. I would long for waterproof booties with dry socks in them if the water temperature was in the 30s or the air temperature was in the 30s or lower; the neck gasket is stretch neoprene, not latex (yay!) and I left it loose – of course, not ideal if a swim is a reality…!

@Greg Mihalik – My rod is a Daiwa Liberty Club 62SR.

@David W – yes, but only small fish, in the 4 to 6 lb range, and even those had to be chased downstream pretty aggressively. I've caught quite a few trout that have been much larger. Steelhead are a different animal.

@Jeff Gerke – Expedition.

@Roger B – yes, the 0.5 oz Cuben. I'm about to retire this tarp, and I'm moving up in weight to 0.7 on my next one, perhaps; the bivy is the MLD eVENT bivy, but in regular size, it's too narrow and constricts loft when I'm down quilting with a Neo-Air.

To everyone – thanks a ton for the encouraging comments. Very inspiring, working on my next vid story already!