Packrafting the Sauk

I tried my hand and paddle at packrafting this past weekend. The people were cool, the setting was gorgeous, and I am not yet good at packrafting.

I had never heard of packrafting until my good friend Seth told me about it. Basically, it involves small individual rafts, which are designed to navigate anything from remote mountain lakes to class IV+ rapids. I think the general idea is the raft is packable, so you can get it far into the backcountry. However, many of the rafts are also designed to act as packs, kind of like kayaks, where you can carry anything you want. I've seen pictures of people floating with bicycles on their bow. More info available at https://packraft.org/.

Our goal for Saturday was to packraft two sections of the Sauk River, which is a tributary of the Skagit, in the Glacier Peak area. It is a beautiful river, clear as can be, full of rounded river rock as the picture above shows. It is not really that wide, but it has a down-slope gradient, and water can move through it sometimes. We had pretty good weather--a bit of rain, and the water flow wasn't that high.

We were with a great group of people--very experienced, with lots of extra equipment, which they were generous to lend. I was really impressed by everyone's disposition and attitude. I rented a drysuit from Yeager's in Bellingham (who were helpful), and was geared up like a NASCAR driver.

I was a disaster on the water, pinwheeling down the river right from the start. It is kind of funny in retrospect--at least I can laugh, now on terra firma. I didn't really know my boat, and the current wasn't idyllic--not anything really tough by any means--but not idyllic. It was a rush, for sure, bouncing through rocks.Very different from kayaking, canoeing, and even rafting with others.

I learned a lot about hydrology, first hand, fast. I learned what a "hole" is, when my boat got sucked into a small one. Someone in our group bounced me out, thank you. I learned about eddies, and the way a river moves around bends. I learned about strainers, and the hazard that wood and trees can present. I got hung up on a tree, and then a rock, and then took a spill where I had a hard time righting my feet in the appropriate crash position.

I called it a day, early, for my own safety and for the good of everyone else. I was whupped, and it was unquestionably the right decision. This necessitated another small adventure, which Seth graciously joined me in: bushwacking from the river to the road. Fortunately, that didn't turn out to be too hard, and we were back to the beautiful Bedal Campground in short order. I'm glad the option was available; remote river runs don't always afford easy exits.

I expect we'll probably try packrafting again, but on calmer waters, maybe down the Skagit. Even if I never go near a river, I see great potential for new fun using packrafts in high alpine lakes.

All in all, a great adventure, despite my inabilities.