Adventures with less
After years of writing about my adventures, I decided to put together a video to see if I could capture the feel of a typical packrafting trip. I think the video below is a fairly accurate depiction of what many of my trips look like these days. It is almost 20 minutes long (think feature … Read more
The New River Gorge National Park in southern West Virginia is home to some of the best whitewater in the United States. The lower river features heart-pounding class IV and V rapids cutting through a deep gorge , while the upper river offers more moderate class I-III whitewater, serene scenery, and ample opportunities for wildlife … Read more
A cold trickle of water ran through my hair and down the side of my face. I swiped it away irritably as I stomped past what probably would have been some of the Adirondacks’ crown jewels. I tried not to let the weather get to me, but I didn’t always succeed. The forecast now called … Read more
It was a bad day to be out on the water without underwear. Winter had come early to northern Michigan, bringing sub-freezing temperatures, snow, and heavy wind. Somewhat inscrutably, I had decided that it might be fun to run the big Two-Hearted River in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Now, as the frigid water ran … Read more
Originally published in Backpacking Light Magazine, October 2013 I had pored over the squiggly blue lines for hours, trying to make them connect. Packrafting changes the way you look at a map for sure. Now my eyes were always first drawn to the waterways, those wilderness superhighways. What would they look like? Could they be … Read more