Packrafting without a Good Map

Luke, I'm so psyched for you guys I can't even express it. I was bummed I couldn't come along with you two, but if I had I would have robbed you of an even better adventure. Getting lost is a lot harder than most people think (though getting a might confused is less so), and judging from the pics you guys did an A job on navigation. Only improvement would be to stay high and left dropping to the upper White to avoid most of the thick timber.

Thanks for the article and vid.

Dave – You are so right on that. I went back later (with a good map) and stayed higher on the ridge, it worked well. That didn't show up on Morgan's map however. I think our logic was that heading south would make it harder to miss the White. If I recall I was a bit worried if we went east too much we might accidentally cross into the wrong drainage which would have been a mess.
It was definitely a confidence boaster to figure it out with a map like that.

My video making has improved a bit since I uploaded the current video, I'll be posting a link to the updated version later.

A huge thanks to Dave for his help getting me started as a packrafter and to Dave and all the other folks who organized the APA roundup. Having that as a background made this trip a lot more fun.

Enjoyed the article. Good job on working with a Forest Service map. I like that people can still do that.

Well I tried uploading a newer version of that video but it didn't work for some reason. Its not really that different from the one actually published so I probably won't bother trying again.

Nick I'm glad you enjoyed it. Your comment makes me think FS maps used to be the standard. Is that what it was like in your younger days? Maybe its confident hindsight but I don't think we could have got "lost" in the classic sense of having no idea where were. I don't think we could have been that bad. The real concern was taking a wrong turn and getting out too late for Morgan too fly home. Also packrafing the wrong river might have been interesting.

Awesome trip report. Looks like my kind of trip. The White River rocks.

I took a wrong turn into the upper reaches of the NF White River during the 2012 BMWO, so I feel your pain with the tough travel in there.

Nice trip!

"My packrafts got a hole in it…..ain't got no beer" Soon to be a classic anthem!

Great trip report dude. If you're ever up in the northeast US hit me up I'd love to team up for an adventure next season!

Luke, great trip.
My favorite part of the read- " We were feeling pretty cocky about our navigation at that point", The trip always gets better after that point.

Yee haw! Those USFS "maps" are pretty laughable – good on ya'll for persevering.

Luke asked,

“Your comment makes me think FS maps used to be the standard. Is that what it was like in your younger days?”

Instead of hijacking this thread, I responded and expanded it in this new thread Hiking with USFS Maps

Sounds like fun. Seriously.

I've had my share of "OH crap! I lost the good map" :) Somehow I am still here.

A little common sense, some good hunches and keeping a level head did the job for you two.

The smiles say it all (thought a cute ranger to flirt with is never bad..is it? ;) )

Great work, Luke. You nailed it when the chips were down. I really enjoyed this one.

Thanks for posting.