There were roughly 150 packrafters camped along the South Fork of the Payette for the American Packrafting Association RoundUp this summer.
Which is a lot of tiny inflatable boats in one place.
I went in wearing my RallyCrew hat, but the weekend ended up being a pretty good reminder of why I care about this whole community outside of work too.
People who have been paddling forever were camping next to people still figuring out which boat they wanted. Somebody always seemed to be leaving to paddle or coming back from paddling. There were boats absolutely everywhere.
Basically exactly what a packrafting event should feel like.
I spend a lot of time talking about “community” for work, and if you use that word enough it can start sounding like marketing bullshit.
This did not.
I got to talk with the American Whitewater crew about conservation and river access work happening around the country. Manufacturers brought boats people could actually get in instead of trying to understand hull design from a website. I also got a much better look at the retail side of paddling through Utah Whitewater Gear, which I honestly had not thought about much before.
Mostly though, I paddled and talked to people.
A lot. lol
I left with new trip ideas already forming and a longer list of people I want to get on the river with.
That’s probably the thing I keep coming back to with packrafting. The boats themselves are cool, obviously, but the access is what gets me.
You start looking at a landscape differently. A hiking trip can suddenly involve floating a river. Something that looked awkward or impossible on a map starts feeling like maybe there’s a way through.
Then you find a bunch of other weirdos who think that sounds fun too.
Next thing you know there are 150 of you in Idaho.
Could be worse.