Crow Pass: The Collective

Some days it's all about the collective... I have a map, you have a compass. Four poles shared amongst three people. Collectively, we've got everything we need. That's how Sunday's trip over Crow Pass went - between Haley, Olga, and myself we had pretty much everything we needed to hike/float our way from Girdwood to Eagle River.

There was a lot of learning involved in my first real packraft daytrip. Fast and light? Well, not yet. But I'm figuring out how to lighten my load and getting faster with every trip.

Due to some last minute trail beta we added snowshoes to the lineup. Surprise, May 31 is officially still winter at Crow Pass. There was plenty of thigh-deep snow and some howling wind, which blew across our paddle handles and made it sound like we were accompanied by our own personal jug band!

Eventually, though, once we came down through the Eagle River side winter gave way to spring, and spring gave way to summer. Glorious summer.

And then finally to Eagle River, where we inflated our packrafts for a float. The water level was a bit low, we hit plenty of gravel and rocks. The upper stretch was quite fun, to be followed by portage after portage around sweepers and strainers. The woody debris seemed endless and we pulled out at Icicle, thinking it would actually be faster to hike. Little did we know, we pulled out right where the good floating began! Glimpses of the river from the trail between Icicle and Echo Bend showed a wood-free mellow float. doh! A lesson learned for the next time...

Thanks to Haley and Olga for a great day out. All four seasons in one day, 24-miles of hiking and floating. OK, mostly hiking. But a good time nonetheless!