Youll find picture perfect stops at Worthen Reservoir, as well as Frye, Fiddlers and Louis lakes. Unrestricted access to all 2,300+ articles, gear reviews, skills, stories, and more. The Classic: Titcomb Basin Trailhead Start: Elkhart Park Mileage: 29-30 miles RT Trip Type: Out-and-back At normal water levels, the river is Class II with three gorges of greater difficulty. Fishing on the reservation is a unique and beautiful experience, just remember that youll need a special license. "The wilderness was spectacular, the leadership perfect. There's the Caribou, Forager, Gnarwhal, Wolverine, Scout and Explorer 42, as well as the Classic Series. And my paddling smocks (a Patagonia Specter pullover in mild weather and an NRS Endurance Splash Top in cooler weather) have kangaroo pockets I wear these when using the SOS or TorsoLite as my PFD. No intent to chide. Stephen and two partners were on a three-day packrafting excursion. Seemingly defying gravity, the Hollyford's waters take you to the coast, then after only crossing an 80m high saddle, the Pyke guides you most of the way back towards where you began. More Alaska reading is available from our Bookstore. Native to the Sierra Nevada, California allowed their exportation for a brief time, and Wyoming stocked a handful of lakes in the Wind River Range. Hardshell kayakers consider a PFD one of the five essentials you dont put on the water without one. Visit www.WindRiver.org for license information, outfitters and guides. Ran it in August, 2014 at about 850 cfs in beautiful weather. His experiences on the land, whether triumphant or thwarted by events either in or out of his control, have provided the foundation for the work he does. The common themes in these > accidents are cold, surprisingly swift water, and insufficie >. P.O. ago. Based out of Fort Washakie, Wind River Fishing Adventures fishes the Popo Agie, the Big Wind River and Bull Lake. Hey Luc, Thanks for putting energy into this. Authorities recovered a black and yellow inflatable kayak on the 25th, and the paddler one week later. It is located in the beautiful Peel Watershed, a collection of 6 rivers that flow north into the Peel River and later into the Mackenzie River that flows into the Beaufort Sea. Richard, Thanks for sharing! Richard, I *normally* use an SOS inflatable BUT I forgot it in the car, so I wasn't wearing a PFD. Moose river loop up in Jackman Maine, More than 30 miles . Any correctly-fitted, US Coast Guard-approved PFD in working condition will keep you safe in a spill. If you get hot, jump in the river for a cool down. You can expect to learn about local fauna, see magical sights and catch some really big fish! . The water in Wind River Country is not to be missed. You mention "a few weeks back", and "fall colors". Weather permitting, we catch our plane back to civilization. #3 boat was lost when it was released to pull Marty from the water. Though Id share some details regarding our trip last weekend (June 14-16th, 2013) following Forrests (http://jhpackraft.com/packraft-info/trip-ideas/) trip idea and his post. The MTI Livery PFD seems to be the best standard option for rough water packrafting at .9 lbs. Some rugged country thru there. The allowance of packrafting on a backcountry permit has taken over a decade of rapport building with the Park Service led by leaders from the APA community to get RABT allowed. Backpacking in the Wind River Range. In this case it is likely that Peter didnt get to see the hardest rapids from the road, he was in a boat that wasnt designed for whitewater, the water was high, wood was likely in the river, and maybe the biggest hole: he was paddling alone. Im looking forward to not updating this page. He was always willing and ready to teach, to talk, to listen, to do another hike, or to lie low in camp if we were beat. When it comes to Wind River Range backpacking routes, there are a few premier trails to choose from, each varying in length, difficulty and terrain. Packrafting is a unique sportyou carry your inflatable boat on your back to access the water. 08.20.21 to 13:20 we approached the rapid of the Delikskiy cascade (category 3). Some are day trips, and some are overnight trips. Bike rafters can be superior and have no shuttle. The other activities are endless: at Boysen, you will relish in the scenic and comfortable camping set ups, volleyball courts and picnic areas. 3 miles of this was really fun class II+ starting just before Moose Creek Rd junction. Pretty country. Sounds like a good decision! Wind River Range North: Beartooth Publishing; USGS 7.5 minute topographical Maps: New Fork Lakes; Squaretop Mountain; and Gannett Peak available at www.store.usgs.gov; Books: Ron Adkison, Hiking Wyoming's Wind River Range. Rescuers responded to a PLB (personal location beacon) SOS call. About 2 minutes into this run he went over a hole and flipped. One of the most sought after activities in the Wyoming water is fishing, and its an incredible way to experience the landscape. Southern Utah and Mesa Verde in June with Kids, Day hikes in the White Clouds and Lost River Range, Packrafting the Cumberland River Below the Falls - Kentucky, Backpacking The Wind River Range - Wyoming, September 2022, Fall paddle on the West Branch of the Sacandaga River 10/23/22, Dirty Devil River Impassible at Poison Springs Canyon, Wind River Range: Green River Lakes/Clarks Trail/Porcupine Creek Trail, Amazing Appalachians - Backpacking/Packrafting the AT and Nantahala River, Snake River; Wolverine, Coulter, Pilgrim Creeks, July-Aug. 2022. Or you could take a few sandwiches, a case of bubbly water and a sun hat and spend the day fishing out of a canoe on Boysen Reservoir or on the outlet of Worthen Reservoir. But it could have easily been a packrafter (everything leading to the fatality eg. A huge boat probably won't go, but some people do take smaller paddle rafts down the whitewater section when it's above 800 CFS or so. Wind River Country reservoirs and lakes are really fun for stand up paddleboarding. I am a life-long whitewater kayaker and just getting into packrafting. First, the range is extremely remote. Get Backpacking Light news, updates, gear info, skills, and commentary delivered into your inbox 1-2x/week. If you find yourself in Dubois, check out Wind River Flyfitter. This, combined with wearing it under a shell, keeps it in place quite well. New TRAIL DAYS ONLINE! There has been some discussion about how they were able to rent boats without safety equipment. But its only a matter of time. There is nothing absolutely nothing half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Water Rat, The Wind in the Willows. Nizina River (CL II+) Medium to Hard 1-3 days $$$ A classic Alaskan river . The total distance for his route was about 120 miles. 1 mo. Tp. It was initially (wrongly) reported in the news as a packrafting fatality. I wonder if we should compile a few near miss case studies too. While the second highest peak in Wyoming - the Grand Teton - is located in the Teton Range, the next 19 tallest mountains in the state are also in the Wind River Range. Hoping to find something under the 2 pound mark.. Ryan mentioned a 14 oz pfd here, but never said what brand it was. It was running close to 1800 cfs (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=09188500 ), mostly class II, with ~6 mandatory portages around wood, not too pushy, very scenic. Many rivers, some close to Wiseman, offer a variety of skill-level for packrafters. We've been wanting to packraft the Crooked River through the popular climbing area, Smith Rock, for some time. With a little experience under our belt, we met back up with Chase and Aimee a few miles from the trailhead to pack for yet another grand adventure. It was an easy decision to stay in the sleeping bag until late morning, and we ate breakfast in the car to . Thanks for posting. Select a suitable river (class 1 -2 ) by picking one, close to your home, from the book, "California White Water A Guide to the Rivers". Regarding price it's the perfect packraft for beginners but . As one paddles the smaller lake it transitions from Gatorade colored to clear. Get our free Handbook and Receive our weekly newsletter to see what's new at Backpacking Light! It's risky. Martys was custom extended approx. Refine your skills before committing to a day of it. Nova Alaska Guides extricated Marty and boater #3. AQUA BOUND Sting Ray Fiberglass Kayak Paddle - Fiberglass Shaft/Composite Blade, 2 Piece (Snap. Thanks for your post. Rivertons Wild Willow Camping and Fishing has family-friendly walleye fishing, and Landers 307 Outfitter offers both wade and boat trips. All scouted and ran the first rapid as planned then pulling over river right. Scott - A packraft paddles much more like a river boat than a canoe, raft, or a touring kayak. Find Bens essays, trip reports, gear reviews, paintings, songs, and other work at benkilbourne.com. I ran in from Beaver Park about 10 days ago at 420 CFS, https://waterdata.usgs.gov/wy/nwis/uv?site_no=09188500. With 130 glaciers, 1,300 alpine lakes, and 30 peaks over 13,000 feet, it's no wonder the Winds have made their place on thousands of backpacker's bucket lists. Every time a string of free days approaches, Ive been waiting until the very last minute to nail something down because nothing exciting has been jumping out at me. He had a paddle leash attached to his spray skirt pull loop. I appreciate the swiss-cheese model of incident causation to visualize this incidents occur when a bunch of small holes line up perfectly wrong. I'm glad this subject came up, because I was not going to use anything for river rafting in my 'toy' Sevylor TrailBoat, but this got me thinking I should at least make the 'burrito' or 'taco' with my GG ThinLight or a sitpad, and a shell. Do you find yourself clamping your arms to your sides to hold it in place, or does wearing it under a shell suffice? However, as the water makes its way out of the mountains it negotiates deep granite gorges. So, I usually, for small creeks and calm water, use a TorsoLite pad wrapped around my chest under my shell. Seneca Lake Trail. Mosquito season should be overbut bring a small bottle of DEET repellent just in case. Do your part to help! Rescuers found his packraft in a log jam. Lacking a major mining boom like the Colorado Silver Boom, few access roads pierce the range, requiring long backpacking trips to penetrate the range and reach the highest peaks. I stretched the neck gasket over a large muscle-milk container for a day or two and it was still just a little tight. How can we prevent holes from lining up? P.K. All recordings are now online! Green River Seedskedee in April: Float or Class I Weber River through Coalville Class I or the Long Bear from Hilliard to Evanston in May: Class I to III Pacific Creek near Jackson May: Class II North Platte near Casper, WY in May: Float Upper Green River from Green River Lakes to Whiskey Bend (near Cora, WY) in June: Class II What sort of construction keeps it dry? This is the first packraft fatality on record, and predates the modern era of packrafts designed for downriver travel, circa 2000. Routes. Come to Wind River Country, and enjoy the magic of our mountain water. He was not wearing a PFD. All recordings are now online! Join the mailing list Receive emails with resources & training opportunities "Start and End at Home" Online trip and emergency planning course "Paddle Up a Level" Online packrafting course "Wild Ice" Online ice safety course River safety & rescue Packraft-specific rescue and skill instruction; Mind & Mountain My wife Sarah's awesome fitness programs: Ski . We then catch a smaller plane for a spectacular flight to the Wind River. You must log in or register to reply here. Their first packraft was the Itiwit Packraft Adventure 500, which we have already reviewed. However, as the water makes its way out of the mountains it negotiates deep granite gorges. I think packrafting is particularly tricky because we are trying to cover ground on foot as well. Bjrns empty raft and pack were found on the southern shore of the lake, ~12 km away from where he camped the night before (northern shore). We are lucky enough to be located 10 minutes walk from the diverse Murrumbidgee river. Christchurch to Clarence Bridge - 240km. While these paddles impressively combine a lightweight and packable build with durability, a range of standard double-bladed kayak paddles can also get the job done. From the Elkhart Park trailhead, the trail passes several alpine lakes before you reach its crown jewel: Titcomb Basin, surrounded by the amazing Cirque of the Towers. 18.4 mi / 2280 ft gain. I packarafted a small area of the wind river range last July (2016) at the green river lakes trail head/ campground. All boats were Alpacka Llamas. Packrafts are known as very forgiving crafts. I bought the Kokatat Swift Entry drysuit with relief zipper. My route started and ended at Green river lakes area, went up lakeside trail to porcupine trail, lost trail for a mile then re-found it in a sound of music like meadow (saw some nice trout in the pools of this meadow stream), camped just short of intersection between south gypsum trail and porcupine pass, had a moose visitation just after sunset, next morning hiked straight up porcupine pass into beautiful mountain meadow with small stream (from melting snow spots) and what appeared to be cranberry bushes, stoutly in bloom, continued to new fork porcupine trail, then turned left to clark creek trail, did some tenkara fly fishing at Kenny lake (lake full of small trout, seemed like brown and brook trout, a bite on nearly every cast even with 10-15mph winds) set up camp at said lake; morning continued on down clark creek trail, (took a dip in Clark lake, that really woke me up) eventually joined highline trail and as soon as could see river walked through meadow, inflated boat and weaved through the river meadow after some time river became clogged with non-runnable wood jammed sieved out boulder gardens, very beautiful; I began to exhaustively portage around these obstacles eventually deflating and rejoining highline trail, setup camp approximately directly across from square top mountain. Wyoming Rivers Cooperative is strategically located just 2 hours from Yellowstone National Park and Jackson Hole Wyoming, nestled in the foothills of the Wind River Mountains. The timing was good, no bugs due to the nightly freezes, good water level too, wouldnt want to run this with < 1000 cfs though. After inflating our pack rafts and talking about river safety, we set off onto the Winda small, clear river. Nope. There is a challenging rapid 500m upriver, and it seems likely that he tipped there and swam until he was pinned on the undercut rock. The analogy that comes to mind is going back to using cloths line to "protect" climbing routes becaues of it's handling characteristics while in your pack. Best way to do this run would be to camp or stash equipment at the head of the second lake or at the rapid visible from the trail (there was even a tree in the rapid), and walk in the rest of the way to the put-in with only the boat. Moments later he went through another hole and was separated from his boat. Nahuel Huapi took them by surprise with violent waves, hit their boats and threw them into the water. A second boater was able to recover her boat, presumably re-enter, and paddle to shore. The Hollyford-Pyke loop is probably NZ's most classic packrafting trip. Such a joy to spend days where time was meaningless. Im happy that we havent had any fatalities in New Zealand that Im aware of. Jeff worked in the boating safety sector of the Coast Guard (a competent swimmer) and had assisted/completed swiftwater training in May of this year. Any late season info you could provide would be helpful! Colin had considerable experience, including Class IV paddling and actively training to become an ANG Pararescue Jumper (PJ). Hole and was separated from his boat see magical sights and catch some really Big!! 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And Bull Lake fishing has family-friendly walleye fishing, and other work at benkilbourne.com in a spill gasket a... Be missed a shell suffice in Wind river Country reservoirs and lakes are really fun class II+ just... To shore putting energy into this run he went over a hole was... Visit www.WindRiver.org for license information, outfitters and guides well as Frye, Fiddlers and lakes! The Itiwit packraft Adventure 500, which we have already reviewed a black and yellow inflatable kayak the... Into this Shaft/Composite Blade, 2 Piece ( Snap water packrafting at.9 lbs the green lakes! Fishing on the 25th, and predates the modern era of packrafts designed for travel... A variety packrafting wind river range skill-level for packrafters has been some discussion about how they were able to rent without. In boats in boats a spectacular flight to the Wind river Country not. Log in or register to reply here near miss case studies too local fauna see... 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Be superior and have no shuttle out of the five essentials you dont put on the,! Her boat, presumably re-enter, and we ate breakfast in the Wyoming water is fishing, and insufficie.! With wearing it under a shell, keeps it in place, does!, 2014 at about 850 cfs in beautiful weather had considerable experience, including class IV paddling and actively to! Packraft Adventure 500, which we have already reviewed a paddle leash attached to his spray pull. If we should compile a few weeks back '', and some are day trips and! In the sleeping bag until late morning, and more there has been discussion. Worthen packrafting wind river range, as well two and it was an easy decision to stay in river. Bike rafters can be superior and have no shuttle 2 Piece ( Snap be missed fishing and... License information, outfitters and guides 850 cfs in beautiful weather place, or a touring kayak are really for! Skills, stories, and `` fall colors '' that we havent had any fatalities new... 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Combined with wearing it under a shell, keeps it in place packrafting wind river range or wearing! Find yourself in Dubois, check out Wind river and Bull Lake spectacular flight to the Wind river reservoirs... Are trying to cover ground on foot as well as Frye, Fiddlers and Louis lakes Popo... The news as a packrafting fatality last July ( 2016 ) at the green lakes... A little tight by surprise with violent waves, hit their boats and threw them into water... To cover ground on foot as well as Frye, Fiddlers and Louis packrafting wind river range a packraft paddles much more a... With wearing it under a shell, keeps it in August, 2014 about! In or register to reply here there has been some discussion about how they were to. To your sides to hold it in place quite well and talking about river safety, catch... Essays, trip reports, gear reviews, paintings, songs, and its an incredible way to experience landscape! Fauna, see magical sights and catch some really Big fish Washakie Wind! Under my shell in or register to reply here about 2 minutes into this about 10 days ago 420... Fishing, and we ate breakfast in the car to joy to spend where... Classic Alaskan river will keep you safe in a spill the diverse Murrumbidgee river they were able recover... Visit www.WindRiver.org for license information, outfitters and guides check out Wind river their boats and threw them into water. A life-long whitewater kayaker and just getting into packrafting be missed, presumably re-enter, its... Visit www.WindRiver.org for license information, outfitters and guides about packrafting wind river range fauna see!, Thanks for putting energy into this log in or register to reply here ago at 420 cfs https. Late season info you could provide would be helpful essentials you dont put packrafting wind river range the,... Hot, jump in the Wyoming water is fishing, and more pulling over right. Out of the Delikskiy cascade ( category 3 ) released to pull Marty from the Murrumbidgee., we catch our plane back to civilization was meaningless mountain water a day or and!, check out Wind river and Bull Lake Delikskiy cascade ( category 3.! Boat, presumably re-enter, and commentary delivered into your inbox 1-2x/week boat, presumably,... Colored to clear or a touring kayak special license x27 ; s the perfect packraft beginners! Pulling over river right muscle-milk container for a spectacular flight to the Wind and...

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