packrafting.org

John N

No, but it was the model before the whitewater decks and sprayskirts. In the old models the decking wrapped around your body. They are significantly better now.

John N

This seems to be the only thing with a good flow right now. Has anyone run it yet?

John N

I haven't done this run, but I've looked into it a few times. There is not much whitewater on the Kash. The bigger problem is going to be bears and wood. Check out Roman's "Independent Sheep" run for a cool Dogsled Pass route. I'd much rather tackle that than the Kash.

John N

It sounds like you definitely made the right purchase for your desired use. I loved my old removable deck when I was taking my bike and dog on trips.

John N

If the removable deck is like the zippered design on my old Llama the extra water will be pretty minimal; however, if you are considering rolling the boat I would scrap the removable deck. A person able to roll an Alpacka is clearly using it in difficult whitewater. There would be little point in ha...

John N

The new models look like a good natural progression. They are adding features that have become standard mods on whitewater boats: thigh straps, backbands, and footrests. The Alpackalypse looks like a much more usable boat than the model I tested. An upgraded Gnarwhal (400 vectran, inflatable backhan...

John N

The water level has pretty much sucked all year, but before it got low there were no worries on the Redgate or Guard-Rail runs. Make sure you close the gate behind you - even if you are just going back for a few minutes.

John N

I posted a video review a few links down on this General page.

John N

Nice - rivers run?

John N

Here is my in-depth review of Alpacka's new whitewater boat - the "Alpackalypse". Let me know if you have any questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chGunrDIrjE

John N

Hey Alaska folks- I will have an Alpackalypse (Alpacka's new whitewater boat) to demo this weekend. If anyone is interested, we will meet at the Wasilla lake beach at noon for some rolling and then find some whitewater immediately after if there is enough water anywhere (probably guardrail). I'll br...

John N

Guard-rail was clean as of Thursday.

A big thank you to James and whoever else helped clean-up five-fingers. That could not have been an easy job!

John N

Good idea - definitely would like to try before I buy. Looking at the pictures I'm not really impressed with the visible main design changes (knee cups, foot braces, better seat). I'd be seriously surprised if they could improve on the combination of thigh-straps and a backband that many of us are u...

John N

Here is the link to the only information I can currently find: http://www.alpackawhitewater.com If you click on the order tab there is a "What's Included" section on the bottom. What exactly does it mean by a 2-piece frame? Why the necessity for a hand pump? Is the floor material different? How is t...

John N

Thanks - don't know how I missed that paragraph. There were some tricky wood sections last time I went down the creek and I haven't been down since last years flood. Seems like the flood actually helped clear some wood on certain creeks. I was part of the Upper Little Su crew. That is a great run at...

John N

How was the wood situation?

John N

Directions: There is a great trail that starts a couple hundred yards back from the bridge (don't cross the bridge) where there is a rock wash. Follow the trail past woody-boof and continue past the cabin (the cabin section will need to be portaged). Just beyond the cabin is a great four-wheeler tra...

John N

Are the rapids below big-sky wood free? I was putting off running this because I figured it was pretty woody.

John N

If you haven't been up to run Guardrail yet - the first of the five fingers has some hanging trees. You can sneak by if you do some rock-scraping on the left. Other than that, the run is clean!

John N

Upper Moose is wood free. Lower Moose (end of pavement to the highway) has about 4 necessary portages, only one of which is long.

John N

I've been working on wood removal from Moose the past few days. I believe all of the wood that is near the road (on the upper section) has been removed. Water level is too low, but as soon as it goes up I'll make sure the rest is clean. If you haven't run Moose-you should. It is quite the run when t...

John N

The Jackson backbands make a huge difference! Jim at Alaska Kayaking Academy had some in stock last time I was there.

John N

Need to practice your boof stroke? Here is the perfect spot. Park at the end of Buffalo Mine Rd. by the bridge. Walk back about 100 yards and find a rocky trail that heads up, parralell to the creek. Follow the trail until you start to hear some loud water. This drop was covered before last years fl...

John N

Tight spots should be slightly better. Mark and I cut some saggers out on Monday. Water level will be good this week.

John N

Luc, Great tips. I have one more, although it may be sacrilegious to say on this forum. If you really want to learn to paddle-learn to paddle a hardshell. Better yet, learn to paddle a hardshell first. I recently bought a hardshell and I can't believe the poor paddling skills/habits the packraft was...

John N

The same seam seal will help, but it will not make the deck water tight.

John N

Uhh....please don't post pictures.

John N

Mike- Alpacka makes a superb product, there is no denying that. The only problem most of us running whitewater have had is the sprayskirt. If you are paddling a whitewater boat that is *really"* good, why isn't it available yet? Your statements make it seem that Alpacka is not releasing the boat bec...

John N

Did you make that spray deck or did Alpacka make it for you? It is awesome!

John N

The evolution of the Alpacka. Seems to get more and more "kayak like" every year.

John N

That looks like it would definitely solve the problem. It also appears to give more room for your knees.

Is that the one with the tupperware lid plastic? When you say tupperware lid, are you talking about something similar to a rubbermade tote?

John N

Kirk-

I will try the seam seal trick immediately.

Do you have a picture of the Alpacka skirt with implosion bar that you are using?

John N

I may have found a winner! Jim at Alaska Kayak Academy let me try a Snapdragon bungee style that he has. It fit perfectly and did not pop when I sat in it. You do have to pull quite hard to remove the deck. I ordered one immediately. I'll post an update after it comes in and I give it a try in some ...

John N

A beefier Alpacka skirt/deck would be nice, but I am not giving up hope that there is a kayak skirt that will work. Here is what I have tried so far: -Several rubber rand skirts: Will not work, must be a bungee rand. -NRS Shock Cord Sprayskirt & Drylander Shock Cord: Might work, I did not have the l...

John N

Has anyone found a kayak spray skirt that will work on an Alpacka? I hate the Alpacka spray skirt. I admit it is a huge improvement over the cruiser deck, but I am sick of it pooling with water and popping. I have heard that some people have improved the situation by wearing an inflatable donut arou...

John N

The skinny: Put in: Drive up the Willow side of Hatcher Pass. Before the hard left climbing turn that leads to Craigie Creek, find a mining road on the right. It is shortly after a motocross track area. The road says "no mining" and leads to a small bridge over Willow Creek. Take Out: The old bridge...

John N

I checked out your video. Looks like the yellow boater ate it right above the big rock. What flipped him?

Also, did you finish the run or walk out at that point? We have been clearing wood on the creek and I wonder if there is much left after the big rock.

John N

Well, since you are posting on a packrafting forum I am going to assume you are asking about rafting "runs". The best run close to Girdwood is Glacier Creek. There is a lot of information about it if you search this forum.

John N

I haven't been down it because it has been so high (1340 today), but I hear it is wood free. I also heard some of the rapids changed quite a bit.

John N

Nathan-

After seeing many pictures of bear shredded rafts I have always hung mine like you would food. I don't think I could fit my raft in most bear cans. Also, it is much easier to carry rope.

John N

There was one river-wide that I saw. It was right at the beginning of the large sand cliffs.

The water level will probably be higher this weekend. I don't know how good of a boater you are, but you might want a partner for it.

John N

I took a fat-bike ride up Gravel Creek today and it appears to be a perfect level for packrafting. If you haven't done this one yet here are the details: Take the road directly across from Victory Bible Camp all the way to the Matanuska River. The mouth of Gravel Creek can be seen directly across th...

John N

Sick of going through every page on the Alaska section of this forum, I compiled a short list of road accessible (at least the takeout) pack raft runs. This list is not comprehensive. The *'s are the runs that I haven't done yet, but I'm hoping to tackle this year. Ratings are from the guides (Embic...

John N

Word of warning: There is a new tree down not far from the put-in. It appears someone cut it last night trying to get across the creek. I cleaned the branches off it and cut it loose, however; it is still crossing the river. You can easily float over it, but it was making a pretty nasty little drop ...

John N

Anyone been down the guardrail section yet? I heard the rapids may have changed a bit.

I was disappointed that the play-wave on the Redgate section is gone. There are a couple spots that got more enjoyable though.

John N

Yup, good summary. This is of course the upper section, from the "bridge that no longer exists" to the end of the pavement.

John N

That's awesome James! Nice work.

Guard rail is clean?

John N

I've been working on it. I have more wood to cut. The stream got pretty tore up last year.

John N

James- Any clue how bad the wood situation is on Willow? Do we need to do some chainsaw work before the season starts?

John N

The term comes from Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky".

I believe Roman was using the term as a quick direction change, one with a hard paddle stroke on one side of the raft followed by a backward stroke on the other side.

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