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24 Hours: Packrafting the Grande Ronde River


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Home Forums Campfire Editor’s Roundtable 24 Hours: Packrafting the Grande Ronde River

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Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 31 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #1295663
    Stephanie Jordan
    Spectator

    @maia

    Locale: Rocky Mountains
    #1925491
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    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.

    #1925495
    Luke Schmidt
    BPL Member

    @cameron

    Locale: Alaska

    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.

    #1925504
    t.darrah
    BPL Member

    @thomdarrah

    Locale: Southern Oregon

    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!

    #1925513
    Richard Nisley
    BPL Member

    @richard295

    Locale: San Francisco Bay Area

    Ryan

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

    #1925549
    James Marco
    BPL Member

    @jamesdmarco

    Locale: Finger Lakes

    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.

    #1925551
    Paul Mountford
    BPL Member

    @sparticus

    Locale: Atlantic Canada

    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?

    #1925557
    Jolly Green Giant
    BPL Member

    @regultr

    Locale: www.jolly-green-giant.blogspot.com

    Excellent. Excellent. Excellent.

    #1925578
    Greg Mihalik
    Spectator

    @greg23

    Locale: Colorado

    Thanks!
    I'm inspired…

    Which "21-foot Daiwa" did you use?

    #1925625
    John Mc
    BPL Member

    @retiredjohn

    Locale: PNW

    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.

    #1925640
    John Topping
    BPL Member

    @johnt

    Locale: Peak District

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

    #1925645
    Johnathan White
    Member

    @jwrambler

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

    #1925656
    Bryan Ingersoll
    BPL Member

    @bingersoll

    Locale: Midwest

    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!

    #1925667
    Jay Wilkerson
    BPL Member

    @creachen

    Locale: East Bay

    Excellent Stuff! 24 hours is a nice round number.

    #1925724
    Yohei Aoyagi
    BPL Member

    @zzz_bear

    Locale: Tokyo

    Ryan,

    I love 24 series and your filming of backpacking!

    #1925725
    Eugene Smith
    BPL Member

    @eugeneius

    Locale: Nuevo Mexico

    Killer. I enjoyed this very much Ryan.

    #1925745
    David W.
    BPL Member

    @davidpcvsamoa

    Locale: East Bay, CA

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

    #1925753
    Jeff Gerke
    Spectator

    @mtnrunner

    Locale: Utah

    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.

    #1925755
    Luke Schmidt
    BPL Member

    @cameron

    Locale: Alaska

    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.

    #1925798
    Peter S
    BPL Member

    @prse

    Locale: Denmark

    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

    #1925872
    Jeff Gerke
    Spectator

    @mtnrunner

    Locale: Utah

    Thanks Luke.

    #1925977
    Hendrik Morkel
    BPL Member

    @skullmonkey

    Locale: Finland

    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!

    #1926030
    Roger B
    BPL Member

    @rogerb

    Locale: Denmark

    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.

    #1926080
    Tom Clark
    BPL Member

    @tomclark

    Locale: East Coast

    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

    #1926182
    Ryan Jordan
    Admin

    @ryan

    Locale: Central Rockies

    @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!

Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 31 total)
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