The 2015 APA Packraft Roundup was a bit smaller then last year's but was still a ton of fun.
I got to the campsite a day early and did a short trip with Ben, T.J. and their awesome boys Silas and Maverick.
T.J. was using a Feathercraft borrowed from Ben. Its a heavy boat but Ben loves it for big water.
Maverick borrowed my old model Alpacka Yak. Unfortunately the wind was slowing us down on the flat water. Maverick is so light he was getting blown backward so I towed him for a while. When the wind stopped he paddled on his own just fine.
On the first day of actual roundup Ben and I joined the advanced group for a run on the Middle Fork of the Flathead. It was supposed to be Class 3-4 but it was mostly Class 2 with a few Class 3 sections due to low water.
Ben was using a current model Kokepelli Nirvana.
I was trying out a prototype for the 2016 Nirvana, I really, really liked it.
On the second day we combined the beginners and kid's trip into one. Ben wanted to go rafting with his son Silas and I wanted to hang out with T.J. a bit (he lives in Alberta so I don't see him often). So I joined the beginners/kids trip.
We had lots of loaner boats which was great for the kids. Silas and Maverick had different tastes in boats. Silas loved his dad's Kokepelli, Maverick liked the kid sized Scout a bit more. There was also a self bailing Kokepelli raft, I tried it but decided I liked the regular model Nirvana better.
We ran a section of the North Fork Flathead. It was Class II for the most part and pretty fun for the most part. Kids have a few problems that adults don't have I learned. Maverick got stuck in a small hole, he just didn't have the momentum to punch through that an adult would have. His dad bumped him out and we were on our way.
Like last year the APA Roundup was a great time and a great place to learn from others. I got a kick out of seeing the new boat designs that Kokepelli is bringing out. I ended up buying the prototype Nirvana which worked very well on a long trip in Canada later on.
