Podcasts about packrafting

Introducing "Safety First with Danger Tate" — Episode 1: Ashley Wise on Outdoor Leadership, NOLS, and Packrafting Adventures Welcome to the very first episode of Safety First with Danger Tate! This brand-new series kicks off with an incredible guest — Ashley(Ash) Wise, the director for NOLS Alaska and a seasoned adventurer with over two decades of experience in outdoor leadership. In this episode, you'll follow Ashley's journey from college outdoor programs in Arizona to guiding whitewater expeditions with NOLS around the world. His experience as a whitewater instructor, leader, and educator provides a fascinating look into the evolution of outdoor education. What you'll learn in this episode: Ashley's path to becoming a NOLS instructor — From student trips on the Salt River to teaching multi-week backcountry courses. The art of leadership in the wild — How NOLS empowers students to plan, lead, and learn in real-world conditions. Packrafting 101 — Discover how NOLS is introducing game-changing packrafting courses in 2025 (and why packrafts are a total upgrade from canoes!). Wildlife safety tips — Hear stories from the field about bear encounters in Alaska and what it takes to stay calm under pressure. With personal anecdotes, life lessons, and a behind-the-scenes look at NOLS, this episode is a must-listen for adventurers, guides, and anyone dreaming of a backcountry adventure. Hit play, grab a cup of coffee, and get ready to be inspired by stories of leadership, teamwork, and growth in the great outdoors. Adventure is calling — are you ready to answer? THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS GoRafting River Hardware SUPPORT GEAR GARAGE: Become a member Consider supporting the show on Patreon Buy some Gear Garage merch Follow us on Instagram

Join Steve and Mark as they recap their experience using packrafts on their recent Caribou hunt. They discuss their preparation with the rafts, the conditions of the river they floated, how they loaded the rafts with Caribou and gear, how the packrafts handled the swift water, and more... ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: https://the-experience-project.com/packrafting-for-hunts-in-alaska/ Subscribe via Email: exomtngear.com/newsletter Questions / Feedback for The Experience Project: experience@exomtngear.com Questions / Feedback for the podcast in general: podcast@exomtngear.com

Zauberhafte Dörfer, Auge in Auge mit Wildtieren, eine mega-coole Stadt, spektakuläre Landschaften und tolle Unterkünfte. Belgiens Wallonie zu entdecken gleicht einer kleinen Weltreise, dabei ist sie quasi um die Ecke und gar nicht mal so groß. Die versteckten Gassen, Treppen und Schätze von Lüttich, sagenhaft schöne Orte wie Durbuy oder La Roche En Ardenne und plötzlich: stehen da Wildpferde. Es kämpfen Hirsche mit prächtigen Geweihen auf einer Lichtung vor uns, und einen Tag später raubt uns eine monumentale Tropfsteinhöhle den Atem. Wir paddeln & wandern (Packrafting) durch ein Seen-System, das Skandinavien in fast nichts nachsteht und finden Übernachtungsmöglichkeiten, die zu den besten gehören, die wir seit langem erlebt haben. Habt ihr ein paar Minuten für die Wallonie? Oder sogar ein paar Tage oder eine Woche? Seit ihr zu zweit, alleine unterwegs oder eine Familie? Natur-Freaks, Städte-Urlauber oder Gourmets? Egal warum und wie lange: Diese Ecke der Welt ist eine der Reise-Überraschungen des Jahres.Unsere besten Tipps für eine Reise nach Wallonien findet ihr auch auf unserem Blog: https://www.reisen-reisen-der-podcast.de/Diese Folge entstand mit freundlicher Unterstützung von Visit Wallonia: https://visitwallonia.de/Unsere Werbepartner für diese Folge findet ihr hier: https://www.reisen-reisen-der-podcast.de/werbepartner Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The LGBT Outdoors Podcast, host Justin Yoder with co-hosts Patrick Thompson and JC Rienton  are joined by Jule Harle and Justin Bickley, who are passionate about pack rafting and exploring the wilderness in Alaska. Jule is the founder of the Alaska Packraft School and an advocate for pack rafting education and river access. Justin, an ambassador for LGBT Outdoors, returned to Alaska to reconnect with the outdoors and his true self. They discuss their experiences in Alaska, the LGBTQ+ community in the state, and the welcoming nature of the outdoor community. The conversation highlights the beauty and adventure of Alaska and the transformative power of nature. Alaska Packraft SchoolAlaska Packrafting Guide BookConnect with:Jule HarleJustin BickleyHelp support this podcast and the LGBT Outdoors mission by joining our Patreon.To learn more about LGBT Outdoors, visit our website.This episode is brought to you by LGBT Outdoors Podcast's incredible sponsors, Spacious Skies Campgrounds, and Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Bryon Powell is an ultra-runner, Vice President of Running Rivers, founder and former editor-in-chief of iRunFar.com, and the most decorated Flyathlete out there. In this episode, Bryon shares how we went from strictly a runner to a runner and angler, and how he fish-slapped one of the hardest trail races in the country: the Hardrock 100. We also talk about his trip to Alaska, during which he did a DIY packrafting trip down the Togiak River.  Instagram: @bryon_powell Facebook: /bryon.powell Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1408349 Waypoint TV Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adventurer, author, outdoor wilderness instructor, and packrafter Luc Mehl joins Doc from Alaska to talk off-trail adventure and packrafting safety. Settle in, buckle up, and get ready to adjust your college transcripts for updated credit after today's episode, as Luc lays it all out for you. As Doc and Luc step off the road and head into America's final frontier, their conversation takes a lot of twists and turns, including topics like swing weight, packrafting, the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic, coffee and ramen for breakfast, college frisbee programs, inside jokes, proofreading moms, 8-pound penalties, the Brooks Range, Denali, Logan, skiing while blind, hypothermia, avalanches, and the ultra important concepts of hazards, exposure, and vulnerability. Epic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 50! Wow. And what a great Episode 50 as I'm joined by the super down to earth and engaging, Evan Howard, generously sharing his time with me (on his birthday!) from his home on Wurundjeri Country.As an accomplished mountaineer, skier, climber, bikepacker and much more, not to mention a talented creator, this was a wide ranging conversation with Evan. Tune in to hear it all! A few of the topics we touched on include:the evolution of his business, Terra Rosa Gear, creating and sewing lightweight gear for many adventure purposesbeing an Arc'teryx Design Ambassador and part of the ReBird upcycling program (...and for the dog lovers, Barctery'x!)life as a first time father, adventuring with Gwendolyn and his changing views of risk tolerance through life, especially now as a DadPackrafting and the versatility of these boats when it comes to exploringUnderstanding the environment you're adventuring in and the crew you're going with - and the value of backcountry training and courses like Remote Area and Wilderness First AidEvan mentions Schusser Threads, Packraft Australia, Survive First Aid,You can find Evan on Instagram at @terra_rosa_gearTo support the show and keep the lights on, check out www.patreon.com/intotheweehourspodcast - any donation of any size means the world to me and to keeping the podcast going!And not forgetting, the amazing new podcast music, courtesy of Allie Geddes (Episode 28) @themisadventuresofalice Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we recap their Indiana muzzleloader hunt.  Cole thinks back on the one that got away.  We look ahead to some fun on the hardwater, and begin making initial preparations for spring turkey season.

This is a fun episode. I am stoked to share Jenny's first elk story with you. Throughout this episode, we discuss our thought process for deciding where to go elk hunting. We evaluate the four critical parts of choosing a spot to hunt. Quality habitat, presence of elk, huntability and potential hunting pressure. All these factor into our decision-making process for planning our 2023 pack rafting adventure. We discuss the pros and cons of hunting the three-point season versus the six-point season here in British Columbia. Our evaluation and decision-making paid off, and we share a fantastic story of elk hunting on our pack raft adventure this year. Please support this podcast by using our partner discount codes.  If you're interested in learning the foundations of how to hunt elk, you should check out the EatWild Learn to Hunt Elk program - you can find that on our website or on our EatWild Thinkific platform. It's pretty cool and you will learn a ton. This episode is supported by BC Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (BCBHA). The BCBHA is a young conservation organization dedicated to protecting wild places and critters that live in these wild places. Come out to a local event and get to know the BCBHA community.  The iHunter App supports the Eatwild Podcast and other programs. The app is an essential tool to make you more comfortable in the woods. The mapping layers, navigation tools and hunting regulations are all packed into the app to give you the info you need on your next adventure.  As always, this podcast is brought to you by Seek Outside. They make unique ultralight tents and packs for your next adventure. Use the discount code EATWILD on your next purchase.   We also get support from our friends at West Coast Kitchen Canada. So stock up for the adventure season and use the discount code EATWILD.   You can stop in at Beere Brewing and take advantage of a 10% discount on the purchase. Use the code EATWILD10 on your next purchase.  Beere makes a great section of bright, crisp beers that are perfect for the patio or around the campfire. 

Episode Summary This week on Live Like the World is Dying, Inmn is joined by Blix, a river guide. They talk about the utility of packrafting, the joys and travails of river travel, the state of waterways in the western United States, and how river guides might have the best names for the worst things. Host Info Inmn can be found on Instagram @shadowtail.artificery. Publisher Info This show is published by Strangers in A Tangled Wilderness. We can be found at www.tangledwilderness.org, or on Twitter @TangledWild and Instagram @Tangled_Wilderness. You can support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/strangersinatangledwilderness. Transcript Live Like the World is Dying: Blix on Packrafting **Inmn ** 00:16 Hello, and welcome to Live Like The World is Dying, your podcast for what feels like the end times. I'm Inmn, and I'm your host for today. Today I'm being joined by my friend Blix, who is a river guide, and we're going to talk about something that I've been really entranced by but know nothing about and I'm a little terrified by. And that is, traveling on rivers with boats and why it might be a good or bad idea during different emergent disasters. But first, we are a proud member of the Channel Zero Net of anarchist podcasts and here's a jingle from another show on that network. Doo doo doo doo doo doo [Singing the words like an upbeat melody] **Dissident Island Radio ** 01:08 Listen in to Dissident Island Radio live every first and third Friday of the month at 9pm GMT. Check out www.dissidentireland.org for downloads and more. **Inmn ** 01:58 And we're back. Thank you so much for coming on the show today. Could you introduce yourself with your name, pronouns, and what you do in the world? You know, not in an existential sort of way, but what is your connection to packrafting. **Blix ** 02:19 My name is Blix. I use she/they pronouns. I am a river guide in Dinosaur National Monument on the Green River. I like to do more things than just river stuff. I'm really into cycling, and gaming, and anything that gets me outside, but river stuff recently has been my main hobby and passion at the moment. Yeah, what was the last one? What is my "what?" **Inmn ** 02:49 What do you...What is your existential purpose in the world [laughing/joking] **Blix ** 03:02 [Stammers while laughing] I'd like to survive. Yeah. The last one was my connection to packrafting. So initially, I got into river...I mean, I've been doing river stuff since I was a kid. I grew up in northeast Iowa, which is not known for anything river related. Or I mean, there are rivers there, but not in the sense that...not the big water and rapid stuff that you typically hear about with river travel or river hobbies, but I grew up kayaking and canoeing. And then I got a packraft four years ago and I've done a couple pack rafting trips since then. Overnighters. And yeah, I think that was kind of the gateway craft that led me to wanting to be a guide. **Inmn ** 04:02 Yeah, it's funny. I can tell if you were being sarcastic about Idaho rivers **Blix ** 04:08 No, Iowa, Iowa.  **Inmn ** 04:10 Ohhh.  **Blix ** 04:11 Yeah, no. Idaho is very well known for rivers. Yeah, no, Iowa is not...You don't think, "Whoa the rivers in Iowa are amazing." But Idaho, definitely. **Inmn ** 04:25 Yeah, there is--maybe it's not Iowa that I'm thinking of--that it's bordered on each side by rivers. Is that true? **Blix ** 04:35 There's the Mississippi on the east and then on the west I think there is a river but I can't remember... Maybe the Sioux River. **Inmn ** 04:45 Yeah or something. Because there's the...I only know this because of going on bike tour and encountering this bike bro who let us sleep at his house. He just saw us on bikes and was like, "Come over, fellow bike tourists." And we're like, "You know, we need showers." And he told us about something called like, Ragbra... **Blix ** 05:05 Ragbrai. I like Ragbra better. Yeah, yeah. RagBrai is riding from the west side of Iowa to the east, and it changes...the route changes every year. But, I've actually never done it.  **Inmn ** 05:23 It did not really sound fun. Very drunken. **Blix ** 05:25 No, I think it...Yeah. As someone who does not drink, it sounds like my worst nightmare. So, **Inmn ** 05:32 Yeah. But anyways, what...So what is packrafting? **Blix ** 05:38 Yeah, packrafting...So, it's a very specific type of craft where you can deflate it and it's pretty much...the way that I've used it, I've strapped it to the front of my bike. You can shove it in backpacks. It can be made very small, and then when you inflate it, some models of pack rafts, you can take your gear and shove them inside the tubes of the craft so you don't have like a pile of gear on your boat.  **Inmn ** 05:51 Like inside the inflatable part of it?  **Blix ** 06:15 Yes, yep. So I've had friends who've done the Grand Canyon in packrafts--which is nuts and also very impressive to me--but yeah, you can put stuff in the tubes. When you want to get it out, you have to deflate it, obviously. But, you put it all in there, inflate it, you can take it downriver. I know people who've carried a ton of gear, like 50 pounds. I know people who've gone hunting with them. You can obviously, I'm sure you've seen, you can strap your bikes to the front of them as well. **Inmn ** 06:50 This was actually my first question is if you can strap it to your bike, can you also somehow take your bike down river? **Blix ** 06:58 Yeah, yeah, it's...I have a lot of opinions about taking bikes--I think it depends on the river and also your bike. The thing with attaching a bike to a water vessel and then floating down a river is it's really exposed to all the elements. And, bikes and water don't...Like, you don't want to submerge your bike in water. There's a lot of issues that can arise from that. So, it's really hard on your bike. And also it makes the packraft hard to maneuver--obviously because you have this big heavy weight in the front--but you can take the front wheel off your bike, put it on top of the frame, and then you can use straps, and they have strap loops, and--trying to think the word of it--they have places where you can take straps and like loop your bike around so it is fully attached to your packraft. **Inmn ** 07:51 Cool. My first impression from hearing about packrafting is, one, that is exactly what I was hoping it would be. But, I guess some questions within that are that it seems highly versatile or mobile. Which, the the thing about boats that I've always thought is boats are really cool and they're really big and you're kind of tied to a boat, and you're stuck on that body of water where the boat is. But, with this, it seems like you can pretty easily be on the river and then decide to leave the river and take the boat with you? **Blix ** 08:35 Yes, yep. And I think that's why they're so popular. I think they're also more affordable. But, it's a multimodal way to navigate places. And yeah, they've exploded in popularity. And it's kind of funny because packrafts themselves--like there's always been smaller crafts like kayaks and inflatable kayaks--but the packraft is kind of this new concept that's come about where you can pack your gear in the tubes and it packs up super small. Whereas kayaks are this big hard thing of plastic that you have to lug around. You know, same with canoes or even inflatable kayaks. Like, those don't deflate to a point where you'd want to carry them in anything. They're so heavy. So packrafts are kind of this ultralight thing that's come on to the river scene and a lot of parks and monuments--at least the monument I work in, they're not sure what to do with them. They're very particular about...like if you go pack rafting down the river, you have to have a bigger support boat. Like you can't just take your pack raft down the river because it's a single chamber. So, it's just like one...When you inflate it, the whole thing inflates. Whereas, normal rafts...I have another bigger raft. It has four different...or excuse me, mine has two chambers. Giant rafts, like 18 foot rafts, have four chambers and then the floor that inflates. So, the thing with packrafts is if you like pop it or tear it, it's going to be a bad day. And that's, I guess, my only issue with them. But, everything else is great, like how light they are. The trips I've done with packrafts and bikes and anything else, it's really nice to not be lugging around a gigantic raft and all this gear. And, it keeps you from overpacking. **Inmn ** 10:26 Yeah, how small is, "small?" and how light is, "light?" Like, does this fit in your hiking pack? **Blix ** 10:34 Yes, yeah, it could fit in a backpack. Like my handlebars on my bike, it fits in between the grips. Like that's how small it is. I think it packs down to like 8-10 pounds. Like it's, it's still a heavy piece of gear but nothing like a huge 2000 pound raft. You know, to me, I'm like, "Wow, this is very light and small." And then as far as like when you're sitting in it, they make different lengths. But, when I'm sitting in my packraft my feet go all the way to the front of it. And I can't think of how...They would probably be like four feet? Three feet? I don't know. I guess I've never measured mine. I just know that I fit in it. I'm not really a dimensions person. I just know that it's light and it's small. So like really specific stuff--I guess I do know how long my big raft is...But, yeah, with packrafts it's just you in the...Like, there's no room really to put other gear. You can shove stuff up by your feet and behind you, but the main idea is you're putting all of it in the tubes. **Inmn ** 11:40 Yeah, okay. Yeah, I guess hearing that their downfall, I guess, or thing that makes them maybe not a great idea is that they can get punctured. Is that something that's likely to happen. Like, can they get punctured easily? Like, how durable are they? **Blix ** 12:00 I guess the story that comes up is that I went on the Salt River this past spring. That's a river in northeast Arizona. There's like a--It's not the tubing section that everyone thinks about. It's like--whenever I tell people that, they're like, "What? You went whitewater on..." And I'm like, "No." There's an upper section that's a solid class 4 river--which, I suppose I should explain classes maybe after...If you're curious. But yeah, okay. But, basically, the story is we were portaging around this big rapid because I didn't feel comfortable running it. It was the end of the day. And portaging is just finding a route that we're able to walk and carry all our gear. Which, wasn't easy because we were in a very steep narrow canyon. But yeah. Someone dropped their packraft on a cactus, which, you know, you'd think--they popped bike tubes--but, their packraft had multiple holes that needed to be patched. Whereas my...I think the rafts are made of different materials...Like, my raft compared to a packraft...Because the packraft is so light, I don't think they can use as heavy duty material. I know people--and from my own experience--one of our packrafts has like gotten rubbed from paddling. Like the paddle rubbed the side and the side could get rubbed raw and then start to leak air. And I do know a lot of folks with packrafts that have a lot of patches. But, I also know...like this is where it comes into play that you need to be good at not just knowing how to paddle a raft but how to like read a river and know how to navigate water and know what hazards are, because, especially in a packraft, it's such...Like you don't want to tear it. Like even in my raft, I don't want to have a tear, but if you puncture your packraft in a significant way it's gonna sink or just be in a really bad spot. And you're going to be...because it is a single chamber and all your gear is in it...Like, that's a huge risk.  **Inmn ** 14:11 So you might just lose every...  **Blix ** 14:13 You might lose everything. And, I think you would have to mess up significantly for that to happen. But, just knowing certain hazards that I've encountered on rivers and things I've heard from other people...The material my boat's made of is this hypalon. It's really thick. Like. I've rammed it into rocks and like, it's been fine, but I also know if you hit things a certain way the like...like it's almost like a knife has cut through your boat. And I just think yeah, it would just be really...I would be really nervous and a packraft because of the single chamber aspect where if it pops, the whole thing is deflating. Whereas with my boat, if one of my tubes pops, I still have another tube that will stay inflated and I could maybe keep getting down the river...and not lose all my gear. **Inmn ** 15:03 Yeah, yeah. And so I guess with inflatable kayaks, are those usually more durable? Or like have more chambers? **Blix ** 15:13 They have...Each side is a chamber and then the floor is a chamber. The packraft floor is also...Wow, sorry, I usually take my big boat out, so I'm trying...I haven't taken my packraft out in a minute, but, yeah, it's just a big single chamber. But, I know that they're making very sturdy packrafts that can go down class five, like really intense whitewater, that are super durable and capable boats. And I think the technology is getting better because it's becoming so popular. **Inmn ** 15:16 That makes sense. Yeah, I imagine in most things, there's the really dinky one that for maybe nothing more than casual water. **Blix ** 16:02 Yep. No. And it definitely depends. Like, even different companies within the packrafting world use different material. And you can tell just by quality, what's going to be more durable than others. But, inflatable kayaks they are...like you can...We call them duckies. I'm not actually sure why we call them duckies. I've never actually thought about that. Inflatable kayak duckies. But they're very--you can't pack anything in them. So it would just all be shoved at the front of this massive pile. So I think--and also duckies, I don't...They just don't navigate the water as well because they're so long. They just are very awkward to sit on. **Inmn ** 16:46 So, what is involved in planning a river trip, whether that's--I guess specifically in a packraft--but in any kind of river transit with camping situation? **Blix ** 17:01 Yeah, I think it's very similar to backpacking and bike packing in the gear you would take. You can't bring anything super bulky. You have to think about what you can fit in your tubes. A big thing that I look at when I'm planning a river trip are rapids, if there are any, what classes they are. I look at predicted flows of the river, and at what point is it flood stage, and at what point is it too low for me to run it. And this is, I think, more specific for rivers out in the West that are very susceptible to flooding and flash flooding and drying up. And then, I mean, I'm looking at the weather too. Like, do I need to bring rain jackets or food. I don't know. It's really similar to backpacking is the only way I can think about it, where I'm bringing sleeping bags and normal things that I would bring on a trip like that. I think the only difference is water. Like, you're on it so you can just bring some type of treatment to treat it. And then, figuring out where to camp along the river can be complex and complicated as well if there's like private land or, I think again,  this is river dependent, if you're in a canyon there's only certain spots you can stop. So, you have to be aware of like, "I have to go this many miles today. I have to," because there are no other places to stop. And, also paying attention to water temperature and how that'll dictate if I'm wearing normal just active clothes or if I'm wearing a dry suit or a wet suit. And then, if it's a multimodal trip, which is if I'm bringing my bike or if it's just solely a river trip to be a river trip. I think also, I mean, you have to bring poop tubes. Like, you're not really allowed to... **Inmn ** 17:10 Poop tubes? [Confused] **Blix ** 19:00 Poop tubes. Like a PVC...You can do it yourself, but you can make one out of PVC pipe. Have one enclosed so you can pack out your poop.  **Inmn ** 19:15 Okay. [Realizing what a poop tube is] **Blix ** 19:16 Yeah, sorry. You have to poop through a tube. [Joking] No, that's not what's going on. But, with bigger rafts and bigger trips we bring something called a Groover, which is this big, basically, toilet so you're packing all that out. Because, if you're all going to the bathroom on like the same beaches and campgrounds and there's not many of them, it turns into a litter box and it's really gross.  **Inmn ** 19:41 I see. I've heard of this on--and maybe it seems like more...Curious on your perspective. So, I've heard of this on especially popular hiking trails and especially multi-day hiking trails that there are spaces where they've literally just become large toilets. And there's so much human shit around buried. It's a big problem ecologically.  **Blix ** 20:12 No, I think I've read a study where I feel like in a lot of national forest and parks the ground is just...they test soil and it always includes human feces, which is deeply disturbing to me. But, I honestly think--and maybe this is a hot take--I think river folks and people who are on the river are really good at packing out feces. And with...Only because--especially in canyons--and maybe this is different out east--but again, there are only these small little spaces that can be used for camping. So again, if somebody shits everywhere, for some reason, people are going to know. And also the National Monument, at least where I work, keeps track of who's camping--because they assigned campsites to people where they can go--so they would probably know the party that like pooped everywhere. And also, they won't let you on the river unless you have a Groover or a way to pack out your feces. Like, they won't let you. They check your gear list. So, it's a highly regulated and permitted activity. For now. That could change. But even then...I...Yeah, you just have to pack out your poop. And then we all pee in the river. That's just what you do. But yeah, I think typically river folks are better than hiking and yeah...There's emergencies, but we're always carrying Wag Bags too.  **Inmn ** 21:49 Wag Bags?  **Blix ** 21:50 It's basically like a dog bag for your own poop, right? Yeah. Yep. **Inmn ** 22:00 Wow. The river community is certainly, I feel like, better than a lot of other niche sub groups at naming things. **Blix ** 22:09 Oh, yeah. I think it...Even like rapids where I'm like, "Really? This is...this is what this rapid is called?" Like...  **Inmn ** 22:19 Like what?  **Blix ** 22:22 I think a lot of them are just intense names. But, like one of them's called Schoolboy or like Fluffy Bunny Rapid or whatever the hell. And, it's like this is...Yeah, I don't know. We have, I feel like, nicknames for a lot of stuff, but...I guess it separates us from the other people? [Said unconvincingly] But, I think guides and river folk also get a bad rap for being adrenaline junkie, like really intense, obnoxious people. So, I won't say that it's a perfect community by any means because it's not, but it's definitely creative. **Inmn ** 23:03 What are some of the dangers of river travel in general, but I guess, you know, specifically we're talking about packrafting or camping as you raft. **Blix ** 23:13 Oh, man. Yeah, there's a lot. I'm trying to think of what I talk about in my safety talk of things we need to be aware of as people on rivers. I think, in general, with any outdoor activity there's the risks of cuts and bruises and broken bones and infections and just things that can happen day to day even if you're not on a river. So, like camp dangers. Which, I think a big thing with rivers that I see are like injured feet with people taking their shoes off on beaches and then running around and running into the water and getting a stick up their foot. [Inmn makes a horrified reaction noise] Yeah, or cutting their foot on a rock. But, river specific dangers, my own standard is I never want to be in the water. Like, out of my boat in the water. I don't enjoy swimming whitewater. It's a personal project I've tried to work on this past summer by forcing myself to swim in rapids. But, hazards that I think of for packrafting is the same with any other--like even if I was in a big raft I'd be thinking about the same thing--but, Keeper Holes, which is a funny...So think about a huge boulder or rock in a river and there's water pouring over it. There's certain...We call them holes because it creates this like giant space behind the rock where the water is kind of...it can recirculate. And if you fall in, or not fall, but float or are getting carried downstream into one of these, there is a risk that you will not be able to swim out of it where you're just getting recirculated underwater.   **Inmn ** 24:59 I see, yeah.  **Blix ** 25:00 Eternally.  **Inmn ** 25:01 Eternally.  **Blix ** 25:02 Yeah. And, I know you said you have fears about rivers. I don't want to freak you out, but... **Inmn ** 25:11 No, please.  **Blix ** 25:13 Okay.  **Inmn ** 25:14 Yeah, I have an utter fascination with water and water travel and also a, you know, horrifying fear of water, which is weird because I'm a triple water sign, but moderately terrified. **Blix ** 25:28 I think it's okay to be afraid of rivers, because when things go wrong, they go wrong very quickly. And you also are on a timeline if someone is in the water, if that makes sense. But, another thing that I think about for hazards is something called a Strainer. So that's when... **Inmn ** 25:29 Y'all are really good at naming things. **Blix ** 25:29 I know, I know. It's terrifying. So, it's when a tree or log falls into the river. And, the way I describe it in my safety talk is when you use strainers at home and you dump the water through, the water goes through, but the noodles get stuck, right?  **Inmn ** 26:10 Yeah.  **Blix ** 26:10 We are human noodles.  **Inmn ** 26:12 Oh God.  **Blix ** 26:12 So, when there's logs or sticks, they tend to pile up in the river and create this huge entrapment hazard. So, if you get flushed into one of those, it's pretty difficult to get out. Like, you will probably get trapped. Another thing is something called foot entrapment, which happens when rivers are shallower. And this is when you're in the water and you can feel the bottom of the river and you're thinking, "Oh, I'm gonna stand up to stop myself." So, you stand up. There's tons of rocks and sticks under the water. Your foot can get stuck under them and push you underwater because you're still...like the pressure of the water is still coming on to you. Does that makes sense? [Inmn makes an affirmative sound] So, you don't ever want to stop yourself with your feet. **Inmn ** 27:01 Okay, that would be my first instinct. **Blix ** 27:04 Yeah, don't do that. Yeah, that's a huge hazard. It's super easy to avoid. For me, that would be the scariest thing that could happen hazard-wise on a river, as my own person. And...because your instinct is "I'm gonna put my feet down to stand up." Yeah, but I've had close calls with foot entrapment. And, if you have even one of them, you will never do it again, just because of how quick the water will push you under. Super scary. Another hazard...[Laughing. Overwhelmed] I'll just keep going? **Inmn ** 27:41 Please tell me all of the ways that I can perish on the river. Which will definitely mean that I will try packrafting. [Dry and sarcastic] **Blix ** 27:49 Yeah. I think you should. It's super fun. I think, again, being aware of these hazards and knowing what to do in situations or read the river. Reading rivers is going to empower you. And I think fear is just a lot of what we don't understand or know, right? And on rivers like--I mean, there's also very legitimate fears of like, "This is fucked."--but, rivers, usually if I can see a log in the river, I know to not go near it. If I'm in the water, I know not to stand up and put my feet down to stop myself. But... **Inmn ** 28:31 No, that makes sense. That is the line that we keep saying on this podcast is preparedness is all about preparing for things that you're afraid of so that you don't have to think about them anymore because you have a plan. And this seems to just be that.  **Blix ** 28:48 Yeah. No, and I'm terrified of all these things, but I should know what to do if that happens. Yeah, there's... I'm trying to think. Other hazards are like Sieves where it's like rock fall and it funnels you through a really tight space and you can get jammed in there. Undercut walls or rocks is when the water erodes away the space underneath it and creates a pocket for you to get sucked under and into. [Inmn makes noises of terror] I'm so sorry. **Inmn ** 29:24 You all can't see me obviously. But, I assume I have this look of just visceral terror.  **Blix ** 29:31 Yeah, that's all right. That's...Usually when I give a safety talk, everyone's faces turn from excitement to complete terror. Or, sometimes kids start crying and I'm like, "Okay, let's go have fun on the river today!" Those are kind of the big ones that I can think of off the top of my head besides drowning. Drowning is...You know, cold water is a huge one where if you're In the water and it's freezing, your body is gonna start shutting down. I think you have 10 minutes to like figure it out.  **Inmn ** 30:07 Ten minutes!?   **Blix ** 30:07 Yeah. I think sometimes even less time. **Inmn ** 30:10 In like what temperature water? **Blix ** 30:14 Um. Oh geez. I feel like 50 degrees, maybe 60? I think it also is body dependent and how well your body is insulated or able to keep warm. Yeah, there's definitely...Like, the start of my season, I'm wearing a dry suit. Which is...Are you? I guess I could explain?  **Inmn ** 30:38 Yeah, a dry suit keeps you dry. Wetsuit keeps you a little bit wet but in a way that is insulative and warm? **Blix ** 30:45 Yeah, so like wetsuits work by, you get wet, but the water close to your body, that's contained in the wetsuit, warms up to your body temperature. So, it's keeping you--at least that's how I understand it--so, it's keeping you somewhat warm. Dry suit is a suit you wear that has gaskets over your wrists and neck and your feet. You're completely enclosed in this goretex super suit. You look super cool. But nothing...You could wear street clothes underneath and they would stay perfectly dry. **Inmn ** 31:17 So you can go LARP [Live Action Role Play] in your like "Dune" LARP?  **Blix ** 31:22 Yeah,basically, it's like a...What is it, still suit? But the opposite. It's not keeping moisture in. Just keeping you dry and warm, hopefully. But yeah. Those are like the hazards I can think of off the top of my head. **Inmn ** 31:39 And then there's the obvious ones, like anything related to camping or being outdoors? **Blix ** 31:43 Yeah. And, you know, you probably want to wear a helmet when you're rafting because of impacts with rocks or...You know, like, there's a lot of things that can go wrong once you're in the water, depending on what kind of rapid you're in or anything like that. **Inmn ** 32:03 Yeah. And there's a thing called swiftwater rescue? **Blix ** 32:11 Yep, um, I am swiftwater rescue certified. And I think if anyone is doing any type of river activity that you should definitely take the class. I don't know. It's expensive, but the knowledge you gained from it, I think, just keeps not only yourself safe as you can be on the river but everybody else around you. And it teaches you things like wading correctly, you know, throw bag techniques, if you wrap a boat, or how to unpin a raft that's wrapped around a rock potentially, techniques for helping people who are like in a foot entrapment situation, which isn't great, swimming out to people, how to swim in whitewater, or try to swim in Whitewater, how to, if you can't get away from a strainer, what to do if you are coming upon logs and sticks in the water. I will say my swiftwater class kind of terrified me because it just made me hyper aware of everything that could go wrong and then what I would possibly have to do to help somebody. But yeah, super intense class physically and mentally. And, yeah, it taught me a lot. But I do feel like I would be able to help in a rescue situation instead of just being some random person who's like just panicking and being like, "I don't know what to do!" So, that feels good. But I would probably still panic to a certain degree. **Inmn ** 33:52 That makes sense, because the principle of any kind of first aid or rescue is, "Don't become another patient."  **Blix ** 34:02 Right?  **Inmn ** 34:03 And so, if you're not trained to rescue someone from one of those situations,  it might be just more dangerous to try to rescue them. **Blix ** 34:13 Yeah. And it's frustrating. It makes me think, like, I take a lot of families down the river and there's, you know, small kids. And, parents always make the comment, "Well, if my kid goes in, I'm gonna jump in after them," which is, you know, then me as a guide, I have to figure out in that scenario, possibly, "Am I saving the parent or the kid?"  **Inmn ** 34:14 Yeah.  **Blix ** 34:14 If I can. Obviously, I want to try to save both but...and I always tell parents, "Hey, if you're not trained in swiftwater rescue, I would not recommend jumping out of my raft to help your kid. You're more help to me in this raft than you are in the water trying to help your child." **Inmn ** 35:02 Yeah. Do you ever just tell them bluntly, "If you do that, then I will be in a situation where I have to choose between which one of you to save." **Blix ** 35:11 Yeah, no. Yeah, I do tell them that if they're being very serious about it and I also try to remind folks that untrained first responders have a very high mortality rate. Which, it's like, you know, I don't understand because I don't have children, but I've seen people I care about swimming in rapids and of course I want to help them but jumping into whitewater is never a good solution. But yeah, I do tell them, "You're gonna make me have a really hard decision to save you or your child, possibly." So. Yeah, it just makes it more complicated. **Inmn ** 36:02 To switch gears a little bit, you know, away from all the grim horror...  **Blix ** 36:07 Yeah.  **Inmn ** 36:08 ...And into some more but differently contextualized grim horror. So, one of the big reasons I wanted to have someone on to talk about packrafting is that we have a lot of...I think knowing different ways to travel is incredibly important and, you know, coupled with my fear of water but also my fascination with water and boat travel, is when I saw "Fellowship of the Ring" when I was ten all I could think about was boat travel, boat travel, boat travel. **Blix ** 36:49 As one does when they watch that movie, more so than anything else in that movie. [Laughing] **Inmn ** 36:53 Yeah, they really...They really made a fun choice...or Tolkein when writing that and they're like, "And then they got on boats," and it's like holy crap. Incredible. How do I get a boat? **Blix ** 37:05 How do I get a boat that looks that cool?  **Inmn ** 37:09 How do I get a boat that looks that cool? And, you know, I feel like the boats that they have in that book are, they're made by elves, and so they're kind of packraftish in that they're abnormally light.  **Blix ** 37:24 Yes.  **Inmn ** 37:25 And so they like do--I'm going to use a fun word that I just learned, I think--portage.  **Blix ** 37:30 Yes.  **Inmn ** 37:31 They get the points where they're like, "Yeah, that's a waterfall. I guess we're gonna pick up the boat and carry it around." **Blix ** 37:37 Yeah. And it's a super light elf boat, so it weighs nothing. I'm sure that one person could carry it, knowing the elves. **Inmn ** 37:43 Yeah. But, the part that was really interesting to me, too, is the reasons why they took to the river and why I'm interested in learning about packrafting, which is, you know, the big reason that they did that was to sneak past the orcs ,which...or the enemy who had all the roads watched, they had the woods patrolled, and they were suddenly in the situation where they were like, "Well, we got to get there somehow."  And so, they took to the river. And so, the thing that I...The piece that I want to bring into the context now is from a situation of preparedness, whether that's preparing for road closures due to the malicious setting of checkpoints or the road is destroyed due to some other kind of disaster...You know, these disasters could be that a right-wing militia has taken over your state, and you're trying to leave that state right, to a more environmentally related disaster has destroyed some kind of key infrastructure, and you are looking for an alternative means to get somewhere. And yeah, I'm curious...I'm wondering if you have ever thought about this and if you have any opinions if...would packrafting help you? Could packrafting be a useful thing in your preparedness kit? **Blix ** 39:18 Yeah, I've definitely thought about this. I think it...Well, it depends. I think in Arizona, we don't have a ton of rivers that we could--and they all for the most part are like...you know, there is an endpoint. And they are going literally...Like, once you're on the river, you are stuck going that way. I do think because of...Getting to the entry point--I'm just thinking of the Salt river because it's the river that we have here. Also, you could do the Grand Canyon, but that's really intense... **Inmn ** 39:59 And like maybe our context out here in the west in Arizona is like...It's not specifically what I'm thinking of. **Blix ** 40:06 Yeah, just in general. **Inmn ** 40:07 Where, there's obviously other places with much more dense and spread out waterways.  **Blix ** 40:13 Yeah. I think it would be a very quick and efficient way to travel if you had a specific place you're going to along that route because you're not encumbered by like...Like, if people are backpacking or biking, you can't just start cutting...Like, backpacking you could cut right into a forest. But, if I was on a bike, I couldn't just turn my bike off the road and just start riding through a forest. Like, that would be super slow. I'd probably be walking my bike a lot. Whereas with river travel, you can go--I think it's, again, river dependent on the speed of the water and a lot of that stuff...But, I don't imagine that people would be patrolling waterways the way they would do with roads. The only thing I think about is if you're on a river anywhere, you'd have to think about when I need to exit before I get to go past a town or go under a bridge, because I think bridges would be huge points where people would post up at, or entry points into a certain area. So, you'd have to think about when I would need to get off to avoid those places. And then how would I get back onto the river? Can I get back onto it? Is there an access point? I'd be thinking about, you know, are their dams on the way? But yeah, honestly, if I could find a way to get onto the Salt River, I would try to post up in there for a while. Especially during the initial fallout. Because I think, if I can anticipate that and get to the river, I could stay in there with enough food in my packraft to be there for maybe two or three weeks because I have unlimited water for the most part, if the Salt's flowing, but it's a very steep narrow canyon that people can't access very well. But, I do wonder if other people would have the same idea with like, "There's water there. And it's hard to get to." **Inmn ** 40:14 Yeah, like, that's the interesting thing about it is it provides these weird little--not like short cuts--but these fairly easy routes through a lot of places that could otherwise be hard to access, but you're also then stuck on it. So yeah, it seems like a double-edge sword. **Blix ** 42:16 It is. And I think, especially with really remote rivers, like even the rivers that I guide on, there's pretty much one way to get in, and then you're in a canyon for a really long time, and there's one way to get out. And like there's a few evacuation points here and there that we've used--they're not great to hike out of--but, I would worry that those sites would also be...Like, would people think to have guards there or set up there to catch people coming down the river? You know? Like, possibly. You know, who knows? I also just...I don't think like...Like, when I think right-wing militia, I feel like they all have jet boats. So, they're not going to be thinking about these little streams and stuff that you can take a packraft on. **Inmn ** 43:37 Yeah, and there's so many weird small water arrays. You know, not here in Arizona, but... **Blix ** 43:41 Right. Well, I'm just thinking like Minnesota, there's tons of creeks and rivers and lakes and there's islands in the lakes that are...Like, think places you can get to that you could like...If it's only accessible via water, you could have stashes there that other people couldn't get to. **Inmn ** 44:02 Yeah. So, a weird dream that I had as a 20 year old oogle.  **Blix ** 44:10 Yes. Perfect. [Laughing] **Inmn ** 44:15 Was to set up funny little like--I didn't realize that I was thinking about this like being a prepper--I was like, "I want to set up all these like little caches. Like, I want to build these weird sheds with bikes and little like inflatable rafts and food stores underneath them. And so you could just, you know, ride trains or whatever and just end up at the weird little safe house, bunker ,like whatever, cache. I got weirdly obsessed with it. I wish that I had been cool enough to have actually done it, but I absolutely did not. Only fantasized about it.  **Blix ** 44:54 No, I think...I do think it's a great option. I don't think it's the end-all thing that you should completely stick to. I think it should be like a multimodal thing. I think, honestly, backpacking and packrafting is like the best combination. Because, I think about with just backpacking, like what if there is a river you need to cross? Or, a body of water that you have to cross and you don't want to swim with a huge backpack? I don't know. I just...And I don't think people...Like, they're gonna be traveling by road, bikes, cars, like I don't think packrafts are well known enough, currently, that people would be looking for crafts in water, especially in smaller waterways. **Inmn ** 44:54 Yeah, yeah. And I feel like that is exactly what the Fellowship of the Ring thought. **Blix ** 45:50 Yes. Yes. I also think...One thing is like, what if the orcs just went to the river edge? They could just pick them off. Like they're moving fast, but I also think you could shoot arrows at them? **Inmn ** 46:09 So, they did at some point. They only traveled at night to make it harder for them to shoot at them. **Blix ** 46:14 Yeah, Right. Right. No, it's okay. **Inmn ** 46:17 But, you know, we do have this dissimilar...We're not on an equal playing field with like bows and arrows in the dark vs the kind of technology that people have access to now with guns and things like that. That would be my first thing is like, if I was going down a major waterway in a canyon, like I would probably not choose this as a way to escape a militia. Like, you're on a canyon wall with a long range gun... **Blix ** 46:47 Yeah, for sure. **Inmn ** 46:48 ...And I'm a tiny slow moving object out in the open... **Blix ** 46:51 Right. No, It's something that I also think about where it would be so easy to just put yourself in a really bad spot if you chose the wrong waterway to go on. Like, I would never be like, "I would use a packraft to travel the Mississippi in those types of times," because I think people would just be near them. I do think though, like, hard to access canyons are still...Like, if you needed to just lay low for a while, would be the place to go. Because, I think the amount of effort it would take to post up on a canyon edge in some of those places is astronomical. Like, no one, I feel like, is going to go--unless you're someone who was really important for people to get to or--like, no one's going to put in that effort, especially in the desert with water being so scarce and like...Yeah. **Inmn ** 46:52 Yeah, Always fun to think about these, you know...Like, "fun." ["Fun," said in a dry sarcastic and questioning way] These terror fantasies that we might be encountered with in the next decade or...currently of far-right violence and having to figure out creative ways to escape it. But, also always want to think about more environmentally related disasters. Like I think...It's like there's things that I...I get really scared here in the desert. Like, one of the big things that I am scared of is getting physically trapped here if there's like gas and energy crisis. **Blix ** 48:33 Oh, right. Yes. Yeah. **Inmn ** 48:34 Figuring out alternative ways to leave--which like, packrafting is not the solution to do that--but thinking about in other places, like, you know, if we're not expecting...like, if our main threat model isn't far-right violence, could packrafting or river travel in general--and maybe we're graduating to the larger raft at this point--could river travel be a helpful thing during other kinds of disasters? **Blix ** 49:06 I think, well, I think of forest fires, like escaping to a body of water or a canyon is a great way to try to mitigate being trapped in a forest that's literally on fire. Because a lot...hopefully nothing's going to catch on fire in the water. That'd be wild.  **Inmn ** 49:06 Stranger things have happened. **Blix ** 49:06 Yeah, I know. So yeah, I think as a means to escape forest fires is great. I think the one thing I think about, especially here in the West, is where our water is going to go. And as someone who guides on a tributary to the Grand Canyon, and the Grand Canyon obviously feeding into Lake Powell and Glenn Canyon and all that stuff, people are constantly talking about water and water rights. And, you know, my fear is that we're...People are going to start hoarding. And by people, I mean, companies and government, they're going to hoard water in these giant reservoirs. And, they're not going to release any to fill up canyons and river beds because it's just going to be such a critical resource. And my thought is that when it gets to that point, they are going to shut off the reservoirs from releasing water and they are just going to keep all of it.  **Inmn ** 49:44 Oh no. **Blix ** 50:18 And, I don't know that river travel will be feasible in the West, except if it's on an undammed river, which there's only...I think the Yampa River, which is a river I guide on, is the last undammed tributary to the Grand Canyon. It is like one of the last wild rivers, which is super susceptible to floods. So, that's another disaster. Whereas with climate change, we're getting these more extreme...Like, they had almost record breaking snowfall in Colorado in the area that feeds into this river. So, the river was flowing at this...It was fine at like 22,000 CFS, which is cubic feet per second. And the way I describe this to people, it's like if I threw a rope from one riverbank to the other, and every second 22,000 basketball sized amounts of water is flowing by.  **Inmn ** 51:35 Wow.   **Blix ** 51:35 Or you could say baby-sized. 22,000 babies are floating by every second. So, it's a ton of water, which being on a river that has that...And so it can be up to, you know, I think the highest flow the Yampa has ever been is like 30,000, which is...I can't even fathom how scary that river would be. But, it can go all the way down to no flow at all. So like, if you can't...if people take out river gauges there's no way of knowing what the flows are going to be for rivers. You would have to show up there with your watercraft and be like, "Well, I hope there's water for me to escape," which I think river travel in the east or a place where there's more water is a better solution than river travel out here in the West. But, as far as natural disasters go and things that could happen, like, if you're trying to escape somewhere due to that, I think we're in a pretty not great place here. Like, the only river I can think of would be going down the Grand. Which is really big water. It ends in...you know, like...You know, like, it's so dependent on...and especially like what if they blow up dams? What if they blow up the reservoirs? Which, what if you're camped along that canyon and someone upstream blows up the reservoir? This is again, all things I've thought about, where it's like, you're gonna get washed away. **Inmn ** 53:11 Yeah, very true. They did just do that in Ukraine. Russia blew up the largest reservoir in Europe. **Blix ** 53:20 Oh, wait. Yes. Yeah, I did see that. Yep. So that's something...I mean, it's something I think about where I think people would blow that up, especially if people downstream needed water. **Inmn ** 53:34 Yeah. Yeah. **Blix ** 53:38 Sorry this is...[Both making sounds about how grim this all is] But...I know...But, I also think the river lends itself to...You know, like, there's fish. You can eat fish, you can...There's lots of food and really fertile soil that can grow along rivers. So, if you had to post up and figure it out, like, I would want to be close to a body of water. **Inmn ** 54:03 Thank you for bringing it back to hope and why this could be helpful. **Blix ** 54:05 Yeah, right. And I think a thing with river stuff as well, and why I love it so much, is it's not an activity that you necessarily want to do alone. In fact, I would like recommend that no one do any river activity alone. But like, you want to be with a community of people on the water, like setting up safety, and sending someone downstream to check that there's no river hazards, and then like having people come through, and you're working as a team constantly. And, you can have people...Like, if someone is injured, someone else could take more gear and like it's...You can carry more things in a pack raft than you could on your back because like--I mean, eventually I think you'd have to carry them on your back--but the water is going to help you with that weight. Or, you can even pull another empty packraft behind you with more gear. Yeah, I think I would very much want to be close to a body or water or a river of some kind. **Inmn ** 54:07 Cool. Um, I think I...One of my last questions is--I'm expecting the answer to be grim again [Blix makes a disappointing groan]--but I'm curious as someone who like works on waterways in the West, how are they? What are they like with climate change? **Blix ** 55:26 Oh, yeah. River or the canyons or the water itself? **Inmn ** 55:33 Everything. Yeah, water and canyons in the West. Yeah, I'm terrified to hear the answer. **Blix ** 55:42 So, I think I notice...Like, when they had to fill up Glen Canyon, I think it was last year, they did a big dam release from the Flaming Gorge dam, which is up river where I guide. So, I'm kind of hyper aware of when shit is bad downstream because they have to do these big releases. But I know this year was a really good year for rivers, especially the ones I guide on, because of the large snowfall that they got in Colorado. Like, we had really high nice water forever. The rivers were all really healthy. But, I think I've...Two years ago I took a group of politicians from Utah down the river. They were like Congress people. Because my company did it. I wasn't like, "I want to take these people..." No, I would never be like, "I want to take these people down the river." But< the point of it was to show these--they were all men--to show these men that the rivers were worth saving, and not like damming up, not drilling for oil and everything in this area. And the moment we got back in the vans to shuttle back, they started talking about canyons they had seen to dam up along the route we had gone on.  **Inmn ** 57:04 Oh my god.  **Blix ** 57:07 But, I think it's because all the water that I guide on is already owned by somebody downstream. **Inmn ** 57:18 Okay, like, “owned by” because it gets used? **Blix ** 57:21 Yes. Like, the Green River gives water to 33 million people. But, it's bizarre to think about water as being something that's owned? **Inmn ** 57:40 I thought it was like that one thing that wasn't for a while. **Blix ** 57:43 Same. No, it's coming to light that it has been. Yeah. But, we mention that to a lot of people we take down the river that all this water belongs to somebody else. Like, this is not ours. This is not like our collective water. **Inmn ** 58:00 Yeah. It's not here for our collective survival. **Blix ** 58:03 Yeah, no, it's for somebody downstream. Which, I mean, they need water too. But I think it's...honestly the rivers I guide on--and maybe this is again is a hot take--but I am not hopeful that they will flow within the next 10 years. I think as water rights and like water wars become more prevalent, I think states are going to start withholding. Like, I think Flaming Gorge is mostly in Wyoming and they could decide to just not--I think it would have a chain reaction if they decided to not leave water let water out. Because all the farms downstream would die. Blah, blah, blah. People would be without that. But um, yeah. But, I'm also, with climate change, it was odd. Like, the first year I worked there, there was no water, there was hardly any water coming down the river. It was super low. Our boats were getting stuck. And I just became hyper aware of how fucked stuff was for some reason. But then this year was so good for water that I was like, "Oh, maybe it won't be so bad." But then I keep...You know, like I think it really...Who's to say? If they dam up more rivers, which I think they might start, then I think that's going to change the game a lot for river travel and it's going to be really dependent on how much water we have access to. **Inmn ** 58:03 Yeah, yeah. Which, that's one of the big key problems is not necessarily there being lack of water, but rather that water is being mismanaged or hoarded. **Blix ** 59:46 Yeah, I think it's a combination of all of that. And where I guide it's desert, but then the valley after the canyon is all alfalfa fields, which is a really water intensive crop.  So then and I...Like, they flood their fields. And it's just like this disconnect of this is not like an infinite resource. And, it's interesting to me that that is this...Yeah, there's a whole lot to unpack with water rights and water usage. And, I think that could even trickle to out East. You know, because who's to say that they won't suffer droughts and experience creeks and rivers drying up? But...I know that is kind of a grim answer. But... **Inmn ** 59:47 The name of the show is Live Like the World is Dying.  **Blix ** 1:00:46 True.  **Inmn ** 1:00:47 Okay. Well, that's about all the time that we have for today. Is there? Is there anything else? Is there anything that I didn't ask you that I should have asked you or that you would really love to bring into the conversation? Or have any last words of hope for the river? Or just like why...Is packrafting fun? Is it just fun? **Blix ** 1:01:13 It is fun. Yeah, I really want to encourage anyone who's curious about going on rivers or river travel, I love it. Because, I think I mentioned, it's such a community oriented activity versus backpacking and bike packing and other stuff I do that's very, "You're the individual out there fending for yourself," for river stuff I really love because you're always working as a team. You're always trying to keep everybody safe. You learn a lot about yourself. Learning to read rivers, I think, is like a superhero skill. Like, I feel like a tracker. Like, I feel like Aragorn, like, "Oh, I can read this like little miniscule thing that maybe other people missed. And I know..." Like, it's a really cool thing to look at a river and being able to tell what is causing certain waves or currents. Understanding that, I think is...Even if you're just someone who has to cross a river every now then, whether you're backpacking or bikepacking, like being able to figure out the safest place to cross is an important skill to have. But, river river travel and rafting and all that is super fun. Yeah, I would love to have more friends who do river stuff. So yeah. **Inmn ** 1:01:22 Cool. Well, thanks so much for coming on. And good luck on the river. **Blix ** 1:02:38 Thank you so much. **Inmn ** 1:02:43 Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoyed the show then go packrafting with your bike and then please tell me about it or invite me along to live out my "Lord of the Rings" fantasies. Or, you can just tell people about the show. You can support this podcast by telling people about it. You can support the show by talking about it on social media, by rating, and reviewing, and doing whatever the nameless algorithm calls for. And, you can support us on Patreon at patreon.com/strangersinatangledwilderness. Our Patreon helps pay for things like transcriptions or our lovely audio editor, Bursts, as well as going to support our publisher, Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness. Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness is the publisher of this podcast and a few other podcasts, including my other show Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness. I'm trying to see how many times I can say the name of the project at one time. But, that is a monthly podcast of anarchists literature. And then there's the Anarcho Geek Power Hour, which is a good podcast for people who love movies and hate cops. And, we would like to shout out some of our patrons in particular. Thank you so much. Perceval, Buck, Jacob, Catgut, Marm, Carson, Lord Harken, Trixter, Princess Miranda, BenBen, anonymous, Funder, Janice & Odell, Aly, paparouna, Milica, Boise Mutual Aid, theo, Hunter, S.J., Paige, Nicole, David, Dana, Chelsea, Staro, Jenipher, Kirk, Chris, Michaiah, and Hoss the Dog. Thank you so much. We could seriously not do any of this without y'all. And I hope that everyone is doing as well as they can with everything that's going on and we will talk to you soon. Find out more at https://live-like-the-world-is-dying.pinecast.co

Wir haben wieder einmal Katja Seidel bei uns im Podcast zu Gast, sie stellt uns ihr neues Buch "Kanutouren" vor und erzählt, wie sie selbst zum Paddeln gekommen ist. Weiterhin gibt sie in Ihrem Buch viele nützliche Tipps mit einer Kaufberatung, Sicherheitshinweisen und schlussendlich 20 ausgewählte und von ihr und ihrer Mutter selbst erfahrenen Touren auf Flüssen und Seen in Deutschland. Gewinnspiel:Gewinne ein Buch von Katja Seidel: "Kanutouren - Deutschland zum Genießen"Wie Du mitmachen kannst: Schaue am Montag den 1. Mai auf unserer Instagramseite "@Nuggetpodcast" vorbei und nehme dort am Gewinnspiel teil. Weitere Infos und Bedingungen findest Du ebenfalls dort.Das Gewinnspiel geht vom 1. bis 10. Mai, der Rechtsweg ist ausgeschlossen.Links zu Produkten aus dem Podcast:Packraft von Current-Raft: https://www.current-raft.de/Falträder von Bromton (Katja): https://de.brompton.com/Falträder von Tern (Stebo): https://www.ternbicycles.com/de/bikesKatjas Buch auf Amazon (Ab dem 1. Mai): https://amzn.to/3oLYKphAstrofotografie Blog von Katja: https://nacht-lichter.dePaddelgenuss: https://paddelgenuss.de Wo Ihr uns sonst noch findet: SteboDie2Mays auf YoutubeDie2Mays auf InstagramDie2Mays auf Facebook NikolajVan3Life auf YoutubeVan3Life auf InstagramVan3Life Blog

Legislative update for various pro hunting/fishing bills, as well as anti-hunting bills currently in the works throughout the country.

Terry from Knucks For Bucks joins us!  Terry tells all about his success in North Dakota shooting a great buck, and his enjoyment for hunting and the outdoors.  Please check out Knucks For Bucks on Youtube and Instagram!

ATF is at it again with more overreach.  Tune in for an update about the newest debacle regarding stabilizing braces.  The guys go over their bow setups and other archery talk.  Cole has a new business proposition for folks with hunting property.  

Happy New Year, Merry Christmas, Happy Boxing Day, and all of the other holidays we missed.  We hope everyone had a great year.  Join us as we recap 2022 and talk about the future!

Cole breaks down the Sandusky Sneak, how to get in close and the guys talk about the new Nebraska July Elk hunt.

In this episode, I was joined by Marianna Cevallos. Marianna, who is originally from Peru moved to Colorado in 2015 for college and fell in love with the outdoors. She lived in Avon and her friends would participate in a lot of outdoor activities, including floating in the river. Unlike most of her friends, Marianna didn't have a car or enough space to have kayaks or paddleboards and when she came across Pack rafting, she loved the idea of being able to pack the raft in her backpack and take a bus to go join her friends on the adventures. She wanted to solve this pain point for everyone that doesn't have storage or transportation and make the sport more accessible for all so she started her own Packrafting company with her partner Mike, Alluviarafts.com How did packrafting start? Initially, Packrafting started with the need to access remote areas in the backcountry and want to do intense multi-day, multi-adventure trips. Although it initially started with the need to access the backcountry, there are a lot of people in cities or in the front country that really benefits from having a Packraft. How to get started with Packrafting? Packrafting is just as easy to learn as kayaking, canoeing, or any other water sport. If it is possible, take lessons for kayaking or other water sports so that you know how to paddle. Even though the paddling sports may be different, understanding the concepts of water bodies (rivers vs. lakes), weather, and safety preparation is the most important thing to learn. To dig further into packrafting, The Packraft Handbook is a great resource for everyone, from beginners to advanced paddlers. Tip: go through scenarios of getting in and out of your boat in water, and know how to get back in, in case you flip over. How long does it take to inflate a Packraft? Using the inflation sack, it only takes about 3 minutes to get the Packraft to about 90% inflation and then using your mouth, inflate to 100% with about 30 seconds of blowing. What are your favorite places to go Packrafting? Canyonlands National Park is a great place that we love to go to because it is mostly flat water with only a little bit of white water. We love paddling the Colorado River in Grand Junction as the river runs right through town. In Austin, TX we love going to Ladybird Lake One of the coolest places we have ever gone to is Alaska, there are so many different places that you can go there but it is a bit more intense and backcountry focused. Packrafting is also very popular in Europe and New Zealand as there are many places that you can't access any other way. Leave No Trace tips while Packrafting: Plan ahead and prepare: Pack out your poop! Wag bags are a great idea Fire preparation: Skip making a fire in remote places if you can to minimize campfire impacts. Links tripoutside.com/podcast https://alluviaraft.com https://thingstolucat.com/packrafthandbook/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/alluviapackraft/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tripoutside/message

Reunited! Nick visits in person with Johnny and Cole.   It has been too long.  They guys talk turkey hunting, guns, and just enjoy catching up with each other.  This episode was filmed in the cyber shindig studio and posted to our youtube @jumpingthestring.  Please go check it out!

Najlepszy program podróżniczy i Mateusz "Rudy" Kubiak, który odnalazł Packrafty i stwierdził, że musi o tym pogadać, dlatego zaprosił specjalistę - Sebastiana Kostańskiego.

Eric Caravella of Packrafting Adventures joins the show today to talk packrafts, their use in adventure racing, and the journey that brought him to be the founder of Packrafting Adventures. Thank you to the United States Adventure Racing Association for partnering with The Dark Zone to offer a playlist of companion videos. Link to the companion video playlist - https://tinyurl.com/USARAPackraft (USARA Packrafting Video) - https://tinyurl.com/USARAPackraft Shownotes: https://www.packraftingadventures.com/ (Packrafting Adventures) - www.packraftingadventures.com The https://www.usara.com/ (United States Adventure Racing Association) - www.usara.com https://www.packraftingadventures.com/emwc (Eastern Mountain Wilderness Challenge) - https://www.packraftingadventures.com/emwc https://aquabound.com/ (Aquabound paddles) - https://aquabound.com/ https://wernerpaddles.com/ (Werner Paddles) - https://wernerpaddles.com/ https://alnk.to/58k84XE (Alpacka Rafts) - https://alnk.to/58k84XE (https://alnk.to/58k84XE) https://www.hyperlitemountaingear.com (Hyperlite Mountain Gear) - https://www.hyperlitemountaingear.com/ https://astraldesigns.com (Astral PFDs) - https://astraldesigns.com/ https://eezycut.com (EEZYCUT Cutting Tools) - https://eezycut.com/ https://www.nrs.com (Northwest River Supplies (NRS)) - https://www.nrs.com/ https://americancanoe.org (American Canoe Association) - https://americancanoe.org/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Mountain_Wilderness_Classic (Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Mountain_Wilderness_Classic http://www.untamedne.com/_/ (Grant Killian) - http://www.untamedne.com https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AYLNETY/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 (Dick Griffith) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AYLNETY/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 https://thingstolucat.com/ (Luc Mehl) - https://thingstolucat.com/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S1TFTRY/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 (Roman Dial)- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S1TFTRY/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 For adventure mapping: - https://caltopo.com/ (Caltopo.com)

Please pardon our sickliness, and Cole's recovering nervous system.  The Tenkara Tickler joins us for an episode.  Cole lays out his jelly fish encounter, Wroe explains how his boat was held together with nothing but flex seal and hope, and how a pack of wandering Bobcats that tried to steal his bear bag.

Daniel Buitrago, Brandon Fifield & Jack Lau drop into the water with Alaskan author and adventurer Luc Mehl    Campbell Creek floats as a youth, The Packrafting Handbook, Nordic Ice skating, Nordic ice skates and equipment, next book, skate blade theory & design, cold water safety and essential ice pick necklace, hypothermia, Nordic Skate South Central, call you a lacer, ice thickness, 2 lbs of food per day adventure rations, caloric rich food (4 calories per gram), liquid iodine, drip drop & wind electrolytes, shoes that drain & squeezing water out of socks, trading sleeping bag for dry puffy clothes, Alaska Wilderness Classic, brining just the essentials, HIT training regiment, Mind & Mtn, Ski Babes, Hazard Exposure & Vulnerability , Pragmatic Risk Measurement, Packrafting, pro tips for beginners, learning the hardest way, capable partners & exposure comfort levels, Solo vs Group, Mt Logan close calls & learnings, packraft design and innovation, primary & secondary boat stability, Swiftwater rescue training, Packraft Alaska Facebook Group, American Packraft Association Forum, Molly of Denali, Brooks Range Packrafting trips, Packrafting hazards, next level trip preparation, using satellite imagery, looking for brush from space  www.alaskawildproject.com https://www.instagram.com/alaskawildproject/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbYEEV6swi2yZWWuFop73LQ

Es gibt viele Möglichkeiten, einen Aktivurlaub zu verbringen. Warum nicht mal Packrafting? Ein Packraft ist ein leichtes, aber stabiles Schlauchboot, das durch sein geringes Gewicht und Packmaß auch beim Wandern, Fahrradfahren oder im öffentlichen Verkehr mitgeführt werden kann. Hört sich seltsam an, ist es aber nicht. Denn seit über 20 Jahren wird diese Art des Aktivurlaubs immer beliebter. ntv mobil - der Podcast für die Mobilität von heute, morgen und übermorgen mit Norman Adelhütte.

Es gibt viele Möglichkeiten, einen Aktivurlaub zu verbringen. Warum nicht mal Packrafting? Ein Packraft ist ein leichtes, aber stabiles Schlauchboot, das durch sein geringes Gewicht und Packmaß auch beim Wandern, Fahrradfahren oder im öffentlichen Verkehr mitgeführt werden kann. Hört sich seltsam an, ist es aber nicht. Denn seit über 20 Jahren wird diese Art des Aktivurlaubs immer beliebter. ntv mobil - der Podcast für die Mobilität von heute, morgen und übermorgen mit Norman Adelhütte.

Aaron and Zach are live (almost) via YouTube every week on Friday at 2:00 PM Pacific Standard Time. Here are the videos we looked at this week: – Breaking D-Rings Aaron's packrafting video Grand Canyon Rescue

Some technical difficulties for this episode, but we drool over ourselves as we talk meats.  Cole is getting a new hunting rig, and we discuss how we get past buck fever in order to make ethical hits.

Time to get out on the hardwater!  The guys discuss ice fishing tips, tricks, and tactics.  Cole is on the hunt for a new bow, and is working on taking his mullet to the next level.

Gear for western backcountry hunting, getting Cole ready for his big trip out west, and does anybody know where we can buy some bunny costumes?  Asking for a friend.

On Episode 10, Cole, Johnny, and Nick discuss stream access laws, perch fishing, new waterfowl regs in South Dakota, non-resident hunting in Montana, and Cole Sh*t*ng out of a boat.

Cole joins me on his first JTS podcast.  We get into Turkey's, why they make us crazy when they gobble, Cole's background, and how it seems that it is always in Nebraska when you almost get killed by the weather.

On this new series JTS is starting called "Biolitics", we go over some new proposals to Montana's hunting regulations.

 On this episode I talk about my crazy last day of elk hunting during the Montana General Rifle season.Follow us on instagram @jumpingthestringSend us an email jumpingthestring@gmail.com

We have an awesome guest, my friend Joey on for Episode 6.  Hypothermia while riding in his UTV, his custom rifle, future plans, and much more.  A special shout out to our friends from Texas over @wildtexasoutdoors.  Follow us on instagram @jumpingthestringSend us an email jumpingthestring@gmail.com

Massive bull elk getting the best of me, Mule deer hunt with the boys, and a finished rifle build.

Trying out a new solo format.  Short episode where I just talk about whatever comes to mind.  This episode I discuss some upcoming trips, hunting season being just around the corner, and new laws passed on wolf hunting, trapping, and elk shoulder seasons.Follow us on instagram @jumpingthestringSend us an email jumpingthestring@gmail.com

Roman Dial has been exploring Alaska, America's greatest last frontier, for more than 20 years.  Listen in as Roman relates exciting stories about his exploits: packrafting, ice skating over 100 miles, backpacking more than 600 miles self-supported without resupply--all in America's most vast landscapes.Don't forget to enter our contest to win a lift ticket!raftpacker@gmail.compackrafting.blogspot.comYouTube.com/user/romandialIs the price of gear holding you back from going on your next adventure or have extra gear you don't need? Rerouted.co is offering a sustainable option to purchase and sell high-quality used gear to save it from the landfill, and save your wallet. Check it out at www.rerouted.coSupport Adventure Sports Podcast monthly by going to Patreon.com/AdventureSportsPodcast or make a one-time donation to the show here. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/adventure-sports-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Zoe Bouchard Kanzawa transitioned from a career in animation and CGI in Canada, traveling across the world for adventure in Oceania, to outdoor adventures in Japan. Zoe co-founded Niyodo Adventures a year ago to offer nature-based eco-tourism sustainable travel opportunities in stunning natural surroundings in Kochi. https://www.niyodoadventure.com/ (https://www.niyodoadventure.com/) Here we talk about PackRafting, Canyoning, and Sauna-Tent Rentals. Zoe also introduces some great local craft beer places, eateries and local attractions as well as and her future vision to also include Yoga and maybe even plantbased foods. ** JOIN the Seeking Sustainability Live Supporters ** ~HAPPS~ https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbmoydEVVSWhIWWt2OWwwT29IazVlRmVPVEdHUXxBQ3Jtc0tudi0yRDJtVTNhZkdDWTZIdFFHUnVGRlI1VUJnVVhIb0ljVlBmMi15aWRRTjdxRkNxRzZFcm9nc3o1dUV4RHk0V3g0YlVfTkp3UFQwSmZ6V29mdXluT1FURVpHVFplUnE0WGNxb1ZROEdJSkY2eEUzTQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fhapps.tv%2Finvite%2F%40JJWalsh%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B (https://happs.tv/invite/@JJWalsh​​)​ ~BuyMeACoffee~ https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbldMazlyZjZlN0M3OFh6cDJKeVBvZXZVLVk0UXxBQ3Jtc0tuZWRoUFFQdVJUdU9TZDZ6TUNEbHU3azJNak0yNTlfbWFURlExTk9zRENKOFpza3d2SDBJT21nSzliSlFYYXNQU0dRZVNlT2IwaHhSNGotSEVsbmFOb0pZb1NTbm02YkdKQkVfV1BqaUY1NDhvRk5HZw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buymeacoffee.com%2Fjjwalsh%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jjwalsh​​)​ ~Patreon~ https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa29WZ2pLTHBqd2x5djJCQUZvS1Z0WjJHTlBpZ3xBQ3Jtc0ttR2k3LVFRd0QtTU5ZSWVsNnJLYzlxT2hzbjc4Vm82bEpOUXlBSnRPNENYdndHWVB6Wkh0MXJCM3hON1d1a29aSkRoQW1kVzZmNncyOXFGMVdvSHRPNkNOWTg3dWZ4cDNUTWtQbGdtTkU1WWFaU2JwYw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Fjjwalsh%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B (https://www.patreon.com/jjwalsh​​) JOIN the support team on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbjRdeieOLGes008y_I9y5Q/join (YouTube Memberships ) SoundCloud sourced BGM thanks to Hikosaemon Support this podcast

Snake River Brewery's Luke Bauer joins the podcast to talk about a hodgepodge of his favorite things, including craft beer, Wyoming hikes, and packrafting.   Luke has worked in the craft beer industry 12+ years, as well as several years in the outdoors industry, specifically with the American Alpine Club and recently, the American Packrafting Association.   Luke is a climber, paddler, hiker, and backpacker, among other things, and he's definitely a friend of the show. As you'll hear in the podcast, he's more than capable of serving as the Wyoming correspondent, as he shares places beyond Yellowstone and the Tetons (although they're amazing too)!  

This week an old friend joins me from the East Coast.  Wroe is a small town mid west kid turned seaworthy.  We talk about some future packrafting plans, North Carolina hunting, fishing, and spearfishing, and much more.Follow us on Instagram @jumpingthestringSend us an email jumpingthestring@gmail.com 

On episode two, Jared spares no time getting into the juice.  Wolf, and bear management, the golden goose of goose hunting, samsquanches, and much, much more.

Johnny joins us on the pilot episode of Jumping the String.   We discuss shootin' turkeys, ducks, and other game.  The Duck man gives us his recipe for hauling in perch, and we talk some of the details around waterfowl management.  

Roman Dial has done things you never imagined. Do you aspire to do a 100 mile trail race? He's never done one - instead he invented races that make 100's look like a 10k in Central Park. "Three of us decided to see how far one could go completely Unsupported. I ended up hiking 625 miles across Alaska in 25 days. All food and gear with me start to finish. My pack weighed 59 lbs; 45 of which was food." Most of Roman's trips were "OKTs" - "Only Known Times". But in this very podcast, he coined the term "LKTs". What's an LKT?? "Loneliest Known Time. When you're out there forever, by yourself, and nobody knows about it or cares!" "Anytime we can put the limelight on Roman, he deserves it. What he did in Alaska for decades is almost entirely overlooked because he did it in Alaska and because his activities predated social media and the blogs." - Andrew Skurka Purchase Roman's book, "The Adventurer's Son: A Memoir". “A brave and marvelous book. A page-turner that will rip your heart out.” —Jon Krakauer

In this episode, we're joined by Thor Tingey of Alpacka Raft. Jennie P, Celina and I are doing our research on how to best prepare for a 12-day packrafting wilderness adventure.  So we thought we would invite the expert on all things packrafting.  We had a ton of fun hanging out with Thor as he shares the origin story of the packraft, a few adventures, and everything we need to know to prepare and plan for our adventure.     Specifically, we discuss how durable these boats are, and what types of repairs we can plan for?  How much weight can we load into these boats, and how best to load the weight? What should we bring in a repair kit?    Thank you Thor!   www.alpackaraft.com   Dylan Eyers,Owner/Operator www.eatwild.ca      Instagram  I  Podcast  I  YouTube

Avid ‘packraftineer' Stanley Mulvany has spent decades exploring the rugged terrain of Fiordland and South Westland in New Zealand. Most of his routes have virtually no trails or human impact. He also completed a mostly solo traverse of NZ's Southern Alps, in a few stages. He is a retired doctor, now 71 years old and is showing no signs of slowing down in the outdoors. For the last 9 years he has incorporated packrafting into his missions.In this episode, Stanley talks about some of the trips he has undertaken, many of them with his longtime fellow adventurer Gavin. He also talks about his growing passion for writing about adventure and nature.Check out Stanley's personal adventure blog.Podcast sponsored by Alpacka Raft:Alpacka Raft has been handcrafting packrafts for 20 years and has spearheaded packrafting into its modern, more accessible era. All of their boats are made-to-order, in Mancos, Colorado. Whether you're looking for the perfect whitewater packraft, an ultra-light option for bikerafting or backpacking, or the ultimate do-everything backcountry adventure tool, Alpacka Raft has a packraft for you. Find out more at their website AlpackaRaft.comMusic: Original music by Evan Phillips, a musician from Anchorage, Alaska. He's also the host and producer of The Firn Line, a podcast about the lives of mountain climbers.

I'm getting excited! Safe and successful hunts start with research, planning, practice and gearing up with the right equipment for the trip. It takes time and commitment to pull it all together, but for me, it might be the best part of the trip.   Jenny P, Celina and I are in the process of putting together what will be an adventure of a lifetime. We are planning to fly packrafts into the Northern Rockies and drift down 100 kms of river through spectacular sheep, elk and moose country. Join us for the next series of podcasts as we put together our plan for a safe and successful hunt. We will be inviting experts on packrafting, wildlife biologists, and safety and gear experts as we research and get equipped for this adventure.  And we will have a bit of fun too. https://www.alpackaraft.com/rafting/ Thank you Jenny P and Celina for doing this!  Please share and enjoy the podcast. Dylan 

Jarrett and Linda went pack rafting in Lake Georgetown. "But, what is pack rafting?" is probably what you're asking yourself after reading that short sentence. Well, don't worry! In this episode, Jarrett and Linda explain what pack rafting is, how it is different from kayaking or paddleboarding, and the pros and cons of pack rafting. To describe what it's like to go packrafting, they tell you about their hike and rafting experience out on a summer evening in Lake Georgetown. You know... the one in Texas, not D.C. It was Linda's first-time packrafting, so she gives you the beginner's perspective while Jarrett gives you his more experienced feedback. Together, they give you the knowledge you need to help you embark on your first packrafting adventure! Looking for more opportunities to escape the quarantine? Read about some of Jarrett's and Linda's adventures over the years at www.AdventureswithBG.com. To see some of the pictures from Lake Georgetown and other adventures, follow AdventuresWithBG on Instagram and Facebook. As always, if you like this podcast, don't forget to subscribe or follow it in your favorite podcasting app. If you're listening on Apple Podcast, go ahead and leave us a 5-star review. That'd be really cool of you!

Italien ohne Massentourismus? Ja das geht – Laura und Tom vom Reiseblog nomadsandrebels sind mit Zug über Neapel an die Amalfiküste gereist. Im Podcast verraten sie dir, was du rund um die Amalfiküste alles erleben kannst. Außerdem werden in dieser Podcastfolge die Schattenseiten von Neapel aufgedeckt. Ist diese Stadt eine Reise wert?! Die Antwort gibt’s in dieser Folge. (01:50) Vorstellung der Interviewgäste (02:40) Was ist Packrafting? (05:48) Wissenswertes & Tipps für Neapel und die Amalfiküste (05:57) Warum mit dem Zug nach Neapel in Italien reisen? (10:51) Beste Reisezeit für Neapel & Amalifküste (14:27) Wie hoch sind die Kosten für einen Roadtrip an der Amalfiküste und Neapel? (18:48) Wie gefährlich ist Neapel? (20:10) Warum hat Neapel ein Müllproblem? (25:10) Sehenswürdigkeiten in Neapel (37:50) Highlights in Pompeji Eine ausführliche Zusammenfassung und alle Infos findest du unter: https://www.traveloptimizer.de/neapel-amalfikueste-sehenswuerdigkeiten/

As a certified whitewater rafting instructor, Cameron wants to help people get their feet wet in the world of Packrafting.Cameron @camdube grew up in the Whitewater Region in Ontario, an area famous all over the world for its excellent paddling.During his time as the director of the Beachburg Off Road Cycling Association, they have built 40km of single track and are the hosts of the BORCA Spring Chicken. Considering his paddling and cycling background, Cam is the perfect candidate to draw people into the world of Bikerafting.In this episode we chat about his experiences on the 2018 Tour Divide as well as the 2019 Italy Divide. Cameron also shares some knowledge regarding the liabilities of organizing cycling events.

Forrest McCarthy blazed the way for modern-day packrafting in the lower 48 in the early 2000s.  Our conversation ranges from his early years of getting into adventure and his love of the desert lands in Southern Utah to a couple of his most memorable packrafting trips. He shares a scary moment on a solo trip in Patagonia, where he was separated from his packraft. He also talks about an upcoming research trip in the Brooks Range with Alaskan friend and legend, Roman Dial. We finish off discussing addiction to adventure and the important role the outdoors has played in Forrest's own sobriety. 

Note: This podcast was recorded in early February, 2020 - before Covid-19 social distancing measures went into place.  In this episode of the Backpacking Light Podcast, Ryan and Andrew talk about load hauling - how to go as light as possible when the nature of your trip (packrafting, desert water carries, family backpacking, winter travel, etc.) requires specialized and (often) heavy gear.  After catching up (Ryan is running some cool experiments) the guys talk gear: packs, footwear, and other considerations for when the pack weight starts to creep up. After that they move into a discussion of skills that can lighten up a trip, even when the equipment is heavy.  Ryan updates the listeners on cool new stuff going on at BPL, and Andrew talks about his new favorite thing - a new pair of ultralight running shoes.  The episode wraps with an interview of Kevin Timm, owner and founder of Seek Outside. In a wide-ranging discussion, Kevin and Andrew talk about:  Seek Outside’s story and gear design aesthetic  What Kevin values in a piece of gear  Kevin’s advice to budding outdoorsy industry entrepreneurs Lessons learned The overlap between hunters and backpackers  Conservation and public lands use  And more! Click here for show notes: http://backpackinglight.com/podcast-26-load-hauling/ This podcast is brought to you ad-free by the subscribing members of backpackinglight.com. Please leave us a review and rating, it helps other people find our show.

John Welfelt joins Kevin and Dennis to discuss building your own packrafts before there were packrafts and using these rafts to do several remote trips in Alaska. Topics also discussed include rafting and conservation.Building Your Own PackraftsLogistics of Remote trips in the 1980'sNavigation Before GPSConserving The Gunnison River 

John Welfelt joins Kevin and Dennis to discuss building your own packrafts before there were packrafts and using these rafts to do several remote trips in Alaska. Topics also discussed include rafting and conservation. Building Your Own Packrafts Logistics of Remote trips in the 1980's Navigation Before GPS Conserving The Gunnison River  

John Welfelt joins Kevin and Dennis to discuss building your own packrafts before there were packrafts and using these rafts to do several remote trips in Alaska. Topics also discussed include rafting and conservation.Building Your Own PackraftsLogistics of Remote trips in the 1980'sNavigation Before GPSConserving The Gunnison River 

INTERVIEW STARTS AT 20:30 *CODES* GET 15% off from HEATHERS CHOICE use code: GRITTY MTNOPS.com use code: GRITTY at check out to saveGet 15% off Sissy Stix (Our Trekking Poles) use code: GRITTY GRITTY shirts and hats - briancall.com/shop Follow us! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brian_call/?hl=en Website - briancall.com SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWS LETTER AT briancall.com!!!

  Today on the show I have Sheri Tingey, founder and lead designer of Alpacka Packrafts. Sheri is a true outdoor industry pioneer. In 1968, as a ski bum in Jackson, WY and Alta, UT - Sheri started a company designing custom ski clothing. She revolutionized the industry by innovating new more functional designs and spiced things up by adding some colorful style to the otherwise drab ski clothes of the time.     After nearly 15 years hustling and designing ski clothing for some of the top ski resorts and shops in the country, Sheri suddenly developed a serious case of chronic fatigue syndrome. The disease took her to her knees and after 17 years of struggling in its grips, Sheri finally found a Dr that saved her life. She learned how to manage her innate drive. She had to learn how to go from being a passionate, workaholic entrepreneur to a zen, calm and balanced designer.    Shortly after she found that doctor and started to feel better, Sheri's son Thor (who is now the CEO at Alpacka) had just completed a 600-mile packrafting traverse of Alaska's Brooks Range. Thor was frustrated with the performance of the boat he had been using on his trips, which didn't hold air and required hours of patch working after each day on the river. He brought the boat to his mom and asked if she could make it better. Sheri's eyes lit up, she accepted the challenge, and the rest is history.    Sheri's story is one of grit and determination. A tale of a true female innovator in a heavily male dominated industry. The outdoor industry history buffs out there will appreciate this one too, that's a guarantee. Per usual, lots of great nuggets to pull out of this one… so grab a cup of coffee, tea, or kombucha and enjoy.   Show resources: Thor and Sarah Tingey Jackson Hole Alta - the rustler lodge Designed by Sheri (1968-1981) Tom Froth Yvon Chouinard Doug Tompkins John Simms Alaska Wilderness Classic Roman Dial

She had an ordinary life as a geography teacher before setting out to live a life of adventure.  She is passionate about traveling and human powered exploration and spent 13 months cycling the length of Australia and New Zealand and then from Indonesia to Nepal.  The journey opened her eyes to the kindness of strangers, but also to the harmful effects humans have on the environment.  She also spent a month paddling the rivers of rural Bangladesh and recently returned home from walking the length of Iceland.  You can learn more at her website alicebowers.com.  Alice Bowers, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

In this episode, Ryan offers some practical guidelines for managing wet gear, condensation, and camp chores if you have to be holed up in a tent during a prolonged period of inclement weather. Click here for show notes: https://backpackinglight.com/podcast-013-tentbound-rain-gear This podcast is brought to you ad-free by the subscribing members of backpackinglight.com. Become a member to support this podcast: https://backpackinglight.com/subscribe Please leave us a review and rating, it helps other people find our show!

Today’s episode is a TECH SHORT. In this episode we talk about StoveBench: Backpacking Light’s new protocol for standardizing stove performance comparisons. We just published our huge Upright Canister Stove Gear Guide, in which we evaluated over 30 different upright canister stove stoves, eventually putting 17 through a variety of StoveBench tests. In light of that article we wanted to take a few minutes to more fully explain StoveBench. In developing StoveBench, Ryan’s goal was to create a protocol capable of producing replicable results from home testing spaces all over the world. Ryan begins the episode by explaining two important metrics: power and efficiency. Andrew gives a little backstory on why it was necessary to create StoveBench, and Ryan explains the protocol’s nut and bolts. After that the guys run through a few of the questions that commonly crop up around  StoveBench. Click here for show notes This podcast is brought to you ad-free by the subscribing members of backpackinglight.com. Please leave us a review and rating, it helps other people find our show!

In this episode we chat with explorer, adventurer and outdoors educator Dulkara Martig. We talk about travelling the world as a nomad, her epic traverse of the Southern Alps in New Zealand, gourmet cooking in the outdoors (think pizza and chocolate cake), her love of pack rafting, and the links between spending time in the wild and mental wellbeing.

In this episode, we talk to the Alaskan writer, biologist, and adventurer Caroline Van Hemert. Caroline is an ornithologist who, along with her husband Pat, undertook a 4,000-mile human-powered journey from Bellingham Washington to Kotzebue, a small town high above the arctic circle. Caroline’s written a book about her journey, The Sun is a Compass. The book weaves together a lot of threads: the path Caroline’s life took to get to the start of her journey, her relationship with her husband, her life as a scientist, her feelings about motherhood: it’s a great read. Our interview covers all that and more. So sit back, relax, and enjoy our conversation with Caroline Van Hemert. Click here for show notes This podcast is brought to you ad-free by the subscribing members of backpackinglight.com. Please leave us a review and rating, it helps other people find our show!

Today’s episode is a SKILLS SHORT where we'll discuss the philosophy and skills of lightweight winter backpacking. This episode marks the first of our BPL Podcast Shorts: 15- to 20-minute episodes that focus on a news item, a piece of gear or tech, or specific ultralight backpacking skills. This format won’t replace our long episodes. Instead, it will supplement them, so make sure you are subscribed so you don’t miss anything! As we recorded this episode, a huge winter storm was rolling across large parts of the country. So that made us think: how can we take the ultralight ethos and apply it to winter backpacking: a situation that usually requires more gear and a heavier pack? After introducing the new format and the episode’s topic, Ryan jumps straight in: listing off the building blocks of a sub-15 lb two- or three-night kit. You might be surprised at what gets left out! From there, the guys segway into a brief conversation around the idea of minimizing inputs in the outdoors. Click here for show notes or watch Ryan use this type of kit for a winter trip in SE Wyoming (article here, YouTube video here). This episode is brought to you by the subscribing members of backpackinglight.com and is sponsored by REI, Hyperlite Mountain Gear, and ZPacks. Please leave us a review and rating, it helps other people find our show!

This podcast is about trekking poles. Trekking poles are a surprisingly contentious piece of gear in the UL world. Their utility and usefulness is endlessly debated, and the science that backs up manufacturer claims is all over the map. It’s a murky world, but Andrew and Ryan jump in with both feet (and two poles each) to help you make some sense of it. The guys kick things off by interviewing Rob Shaul, founder and owner of the Mountain Tactical Institute. Rob makes a living training mountain athletes and military service members deployed in mountains regions, so he knows his stuff. MTI has conducted a few studies that measure the effectiveness of trekking poles on athletes under load. The interview covers those studies: how they were constructed and what they ultimately prove (or don’t prove). In the second interview,  Ryan and Andrew chat with James Marco, a longtime Backpacking Light member and experienced UL backpacker. James provides some context to some of the most well trod trekking pole questions and shares his tips for MYOG poles. After the interviews, Ryan shares several scientific studies in an attempt to shed light on the big trekking pole questions: do poles make you faster? Improve your balance? Save energy? Reduce strain and impact? Next, the guys chat about the most contentious trekking pole statements the internet has to offer. If you’ve ever been in a forum fight about trekking poles, chances are you’ve heard a few of the things they cover in this section. This episode’s Gear section is a brief overview of BPL’s recent Trekking Pole Gear Guide. Ryan shares a few of his favorite poles, including a few that surprised him! In the Hiker Hack’s segment Ryan talks trekking pole field repair, and Andrew has a question for listeners concerning a common thru-hiker trekking pole breakdown. Click here for show notes This podcast is brought to you ad-free by the subscribing members of backpackinglight.com. Please leave us a review and rating, it helps other people find our show!

This podcast is about photography and filmmaking in the backcountry. It used to be that creating professional photography and video content in the mountains required thirty or more pounds of gear. Not anymore. An explosion of innovation over the last few years means that you can now tell stories and capture adventures with a high degree of quality while maintaining a low pack weight and a minimalist mindset. In this episode, Andrew and Ryan dig deep into the tools, skills, and philosophy you’ll need to enhance your backcountry photography and filmmaking skills. They get started by immediately jumping into the interview: an engaging and energetic discussion with filmmaker and ultralight backpacker Chris Smead. Chris’ film “Alcove” won the audience choice award at the inaugural Backpacking Light Film Festival in 2017, and he’s been creating non-stop ever since.  After the interview, Ryan and Andrew take a deep dive into camera gear and content creation strategies. What makes a camera well suited for adventure filmmaking and photography? What are the different options? How do your choices affect the outcome of your final product?  What is the most efficient way to improve photography and filmmaking skills? What are the best ways to spend a limited budget?All these questions and more are answered.  The Gear and Hiker Hack sections are concerned with batteries and power sources—how to charge them, how to keep them charged, and which ones to use. Finally, Andrew and Ryan share what they’ve been up to lately. Ryan is making movies and Andrew is dressing for success Norwegian style.   Click here for show notes This podcast is brought to you ad-free by the subscribing members of backpackinglight.com. Please leave us a review and rating, it helps other people find our show!  

In the summer of 2018 eleven people ventured into Montana’s Absorka-Beartooth Wilderness on Backpacking Light’s guided Whitetail Trek. They faced snow, hail, high temperatures, exposed conditions above treeline, and unstable footing. On top of all that, they were off-trail almost the entire way. The point of the trip was to gain the skills and confidence necessary to route plan and navigate off-trail in the mountains. Today’s episode examines navigational strategies and tools through the lens of the Whitetail Trek. Ryan and Andrew get things started by giving you a brief rundown of the trip before introducing this episode’s guest. Chris Shultz is an M.D., a hockey player, a most importantly (to us!) an ultralight backpacker who participated in the trek. After the interview, the guys cover a range of navigational topics: tools and resources for finding your way, books, apps, maps, and getting lost. Ryan touches on the planning for next year’s trips, and Andrew introduces a new podcast segment. The boys wrap up the show with a brief discussion of risk management, and Andrew plugs a great book he’s been reading lately. Spoiler alert: it’s a scary one. Click here for show notes This podcast is brought to you ad-free by the subscribing members of backpackinglight.com. Please leave us a review and rating, it helps other people find our show!

In response to reader feedback and in the interest of exploring new formats, Ryan and Andrew are experimenting with new types of episodes to bring you a few different variations on the podcast. This episode features a conversation with a few of the Backpacking Light Wilderness Adventure guides. Kevin Fletcher, Dan Wielenga, and Adam Van Zee joined Ryan in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness in June for our annual Guide's Training course. In the car on the way home, our conversation turned to the philosophy, benefits, and “soft skills” of ultralight backpacking. Later in the episode, Ryan gives a brief rundown of the new Garmin inReach Mini and previews the upcoming Trekking Poles Gear Guide. Andrew is moving to Lake Tahoe and considering a 2019 PCT thru-hike. Click here for show notes This podcast is brought to you ad-free by the subscribing members of backpackinglight.com. Please leave us a review and rating, it helps other people find our show!

Sheri Tingey has been making gear in the outdoor industry for the past 50 years, and she's done a lot of it with her own two hands. Learn about what drives her to solve problems, how she learned the important lesson of slowing down, and what happened after she re-started her career in her 50's by founding Alpacka Raft. Sheri started out making custom ski apparel in Jackson Hole in the late 1960's and she founded Alpacka Raft in 2000. The latter revolutionized packrafting as a sport in and of itself. (Color us impressed!) In between the two ventures, Sheri spent 17 years with a then-mysterious illness, chronic fatigue. She raised her kids in Alaska then, but she stayed active in the outdoor community, making custom clothing for dog mushers with her limited energy. She was in her early 50's once she found treatment and started Alpacka Raft. Sheri has fun solving problems and being an entrepreneur - which may just be the secret to her success. Women featured in this episode: Sheri Tingey, the founder of Alpacka Raft, a company that makes Packrafts in Colorado. Sheri has been innovating since the late 1960's when she started a ski apparel company, Design by Sheri, because she couldn't find the ski clothes she needed. Hosted by Gale Straub In this episode, you'll hear: What the outdoor industry was like in the late 1960's and 70's The catalyst for Sheri's first company, Design by Sheri When Sheri knew it was time to move on from her first venture How chronic fatigue affects your body and creative ability The value of slowing down, and how Sheri incorporates that lesson in her life (and work) today What it's like to gain confidence again after treatment for a chronic illness What packrafting is The unique challenges and rewards of a product-based company The importance of re-evaluating your business after it's been around for a certain period of time Why sometimes it's better to stay small as a company Sheri's advice for other entrepreneurs as she looks back at her career Sponsors & Codes: Benchmark Maps: use code SHEEXPLORES for 20% off your order Sawyer: Enter giveaway at She-Explores.com/sawyer Stamps.com: use code EXPLORES after clicking on the mic for a free 4 week trial, postage, and a digital scale! World Nomads: Check out their podcast at Worldnomads.com/podcasts Join the She Explores Podcast community on Facebook. Enjoy this episode? Rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. It’ll help other people find us. Visit She-Explores.com Resources mentioned in this episode: Alpacka Raft Ray Jardine's Lightweight Backpacking She Explores Facebook Group Music is by Lee Rosevere, Kai Engel, and Steve Combs via Free Music Archive (CC by A license) Music is also by Memory Palace

In this episode we tackle the science, myths, and dogma surrounding backpacking food and nutrition. Featuring guest Brian Rigby, certified sports nutritionist and author. We tackle food and nutrition issues as they relate to thru-hiking, ketogenic diets, plant-based diets (veganism and vegetarianism), gluten-free issues, and macronutrient-micronutrient nutrition. Some questions we ask: what are the caloric and nutritional needs of backpackers? Why do we need to address dogma and pseudo-science in this field? We also take a look at some new cooking and water treatment gear and discuss what's going on in the world of Backpacking Light right now. Click here for show notes. This podcast is brought to you ad-free by the subscribing members of backpackinglight.com. Please leave us a review and rating, it helps other people find our show!

Thor and Sarah Tingey are the folks behind Alpacka Raft. If you're not familiar with the company, it's important to know that it's a leader in the industry of Packrafting. Thor goes way back with the company to the very beginning when it was just him and is Mom creating lightweight portable rafts for people making treks across the landscapes of Alaska.Fast forward to today, Alpacka Raft is made here in the U.S. and serves customers around the world!On this episode, you'll hear Thor and Sarah speak about what packrafting is, how to get into it, how to choose a raft, the history of packrafting, and even conservation. It's a full set of topics here on this episode and it won't disappoint.This is no doubt a great conversation with some wonderful people and I'm honored to have had the opportunity to speak with them so candidly.Enjoy!By Land,Emory RonaldTHANKS FOR LISTENING!!Taking the time to listen to this podcast is greatly appreciated! If you have questions or comments, feel free to reach me at emory@byland.co or leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you.HELP THE SHOWIf you enjoyed this show and want to help me out, please leave me an honest review on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts from. Doing so will help my podcast reach others and grow more and more. I can't do it without you!Lifestyle Shop - http://byland.co/shop/Patreon - http://byland.co/patreon/SHOW NOTESIntroductionsThor's background with the founding of Alpacka RaftsThors intro into what packrafting isSarah's backgroundThor's eye opening realization about what is possible in the backcountryThoughts on and benefits of long duration backcountry tripsWhat keeps Thor and Sarah returning to wild placesHow Thor and Sarah make each of their trips uniqueHow comparing your trip to the trips of others can sour the experienceHow to make your trip your ownUsing topographical maps to build basic skills and to understand your area of interestHow to learn and build on basic skillsThe history of packrafting as told by Thor - also lots of great stories!How Alpacka Rafts was createdHow packrafting can open up opportunities in the backcountryHow to choose an Alpacka PackraftPackrafts compared to regular kayaksThings to know before you get into packraftingThe growing popularity of packgraftingThe growth and maturity of Alpacka RaftsHow to buy an Alpacka RaftWhat it's like to see the growth and useage of Alpacka products around the world from the perspective of the foundersThor's favorite inspirational story from a customerSarah's reason behind why she loves what Alpacka Rafts offer customers and her love for customer serviceWhere Thor and Sarah get their most satisfaction and inspirationTrends and the future of Alpacka Rafts - What's next?How Alpacka Rafts support the conservation effort - access to public waterLinkshttps://www.alpackaraft.com/rafting/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/alpacka_raft/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/alpackaraftllc/

Meeting Roman Dial, Thor’s 700 mile trek across Alaska, The birth of Alpaca Raft, The contrast of hunting and other outdoor sports, The most generous game warden in the world, Black sands of the southern coast of the Alaska Peninsula, Caribou packraft hunting in Alaska, The perfect solo packraft for Alaskan hunting, and the crazy sport of Zorbing.   Links: Backcountry Hunters & Anglers https://www.backcountryhunters.org/ Bretwood Higman and Erin McKittrick - Mud Flats and Fish Camps http://www.groundtruthtrekking.org/ Bjorn Olsen videographer, bike packing and packrafting caribou trip http://www.mjolnirofbjorn.com/ Roman Dial http://packrafting.blogspot.com/ Ritt Kellog Memorial Fund - Grant at Colorado College https://www.coloradocollege.edu/other/rittkelloggfund/ Sevylor Raft https://www.coleman.com/sevylor/ One Man’s Wilderness - Richard Proeneke https://www.amazon.com/One-Mans-Wilderness-Alaskan-Odyssey/dp/0882405136 New Zealand Hunter Magazine - Greg Duley http://www.nzhunter.co.nz/ Alpaca Raft https://www.alpackaraft.com/rafting/ Zorbing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorbing Alpacka Raft Alpacka series https://www.alpackaraft.com/rafting/product/alpacka-series/ Aqua Bound Manta Ray Hybrid Paddle https://www.alpackaraft.com/rafting/product/aqua-bound-manta-ray-hybrid/ Astral V-Eight https://www.alpackaraft.com/rafting/product/astral-v-eight-pfd-2018/ Luc Mehl’s Logan Traverse https://thingstolucat.com/logan-traverse/ Luc Mehl’s Stickers for Conservation https://thingstolucat.com/art-sticker-conservation-campaign/    

In this episode we dive into the design, manufacturing, and applications of Dyneema Composite Fabrics. We interview Wes Hatcher, Applications Manager for DSM Dyneema, along with cottage ultralight backpacking company founders Graham Williams (CiloGear), Mike St. Pierre (Hyperlite Mountain Gear), Joe Valesko (ZPacks), Henry Shires (Tarptent), and Glen Van Peski (Gossamer Gear) and discuss the relevance of Dyneema Composite Fabrics for apparel, shelters, backpacks, and more. Click here for show notes This podcast is brought to you ad free by the subscribing members of backpackinglight.com. Please leave us a review and rating, it helps other people find our show!

Ryan and Andrew explore the science, technology, and applications behind synthetic insulation. We interview Max Neale about his two-year project reviewing lightweight synthetic-insulated jackets, the nature of expedition risk, and his party's recent helicopter rescue on the world's largest mountain.   Click here for show notes   This podcast is brought to you ad free by the subscribing members of backpackinglight.com.   Please leave us a review and rating, it helps other people find our show.

For 24 days Charlie Tokeley trekked and packrafted a remote stretch of Chilean Patagonia, documenting previously unexplored glaciers and traversing unnamed rivers. During this time he saw not a single person or sign of human activity. He describes it as breathtakingly stunning at times and inexplicably hard the rest – a rainbow in a rainstorm. […] The post Solo Trekking and Packrafting in Chilean Patagonia with Charlie Tokeley : TPZ 121 appeared first on The Pursuit Zone.

Kristin Gates was the youngest woman to hike the US Triple Crown, the first person to hike the completed 800 mile Arizona Trail, and the first woman to solo traverse Alaska's Brooks Range. After 700 miles of bushwhacking and 300 miles of packrafting for 51 days on the Brooks Range, Kristin spent the next summer […] The post Hiking & Packrafting Alaska's Brooks Range with Kristin Gates : TPZ 105 appeared first on The Pursuit Zone.

It's no mean feet planning a walk across Scotland for the RAB TGO Challenge. But how difficult it is to plan a route when you're based two or three thousand miles away on the other side of the world? Andy Howell talks to US backpacker Rob Hausam about crossing Scotland and about a planned Packrafting, hiking, adventure in Alaska. Is Andy tempted to a life on the fast watery wave?

Roman Dial has been exploring Alaska, America's greatest last frontier, for more that 20 years.  Listen in as Roman relates exciting stories about his exploits: packrafting, ice skating over 100 miles, backpacking more than 600 miles self-supported without resupply--all in America's most vast landscapes. Don't forget to enter our contest to win a lift ticket! raftpacker@gmail.com http://packrafting.blogspot.com/ https://www.youtube.com/user/romandial