Packrafts are the ideal craft for Alaska, allowing us access to the myriad waterways that trace through our striking mountains and empty into our vast ocean waterways. With these little inflatable boats, the terrain opens up with new opportunities to reach spaces once deemed inaccessible.
It’s amazing how far gear design has come to have such products that allow us to do things like paddle an inflatable boat down a freezing cold Alaskan glacial stream in sub-freezing temps with finesse and minimal discomfort.
In these temperatures, it’s important to stay as dry as possible, so you’ll notice everyone in the video is wearing drysuits with water temps being just above freezing. Paired with sub-freezing temperatures and wind, the swiftly freezing water encased us in a layer of ice during the paddle. As you take each stroke, you hear the crinkling and cracking of your frozen drysuit, layers of ice attempting to seal you into your gear forever. What are commonly simpler tasks at the end of a paddle such as deflating our boats or getting out of our PFDs proved to be nearly impossible forcing us to thaw them in a vehicle before the ice-laden PFDs reluctantly released their grip.
Video
A few crazy friends together for a freezing packraft trip down the Lowe River (Keystone Canyon section) in Valdez, Alaska in October. We braved the ice and freezing temps to enjoy a picturesque canyon float with ice draped walls and clear low water, revealing for the brief period the colorful stones lining the river bottom which are usually concealed by the milky silt-churned waters of summer.
