Iceland

Most of us have seen the fantastic video by Alastair Humphreys about crossing Iceland.

Several friends of mine have been to Iceland, Alaskan friends who have packrafts and know their potential, but they always came back without anything fantastic to say about it.

Alastair's 215 mile traverse of the island over ice field and down rivers puts Iceland firmly on my hit-list. The video by Alastair's trip partner, photographer Chris Herwig, is informative and beautiful.

Iceland Crossing (10 mins) from Christopher Herwig on Vimeo.

My hunch is the trip could be done a bit quicker (read lighter) if you weren't packing for what look like award winning videos. Maybe a Black Diamond Firstlight for the breezly ash-storms, and fewer 'lectrons for recording your epic.

If I read right, there're two days or so worth of boating, leaving about about 165 miles of walking. Late season, you could skip the crampons and walk on the ashy ice.

It looks like it could be done as a 10 day trip, probably it (or a variation) being the best packrafting journey in Europe, so far, (there's still some development needed in Scandinavia and elsewhere, of course). Another river or two on an trans-Iceland traverse to push the pack:raft ratio closer to 1:1 rather than 3:1 would make things easier on the ole' feet and back, but certainly don't want to miss out on that water-fall landscape on their first river, the "Pjorsa".

Anyway, it'd be neat if those two submitted one of their packrafting videos to Banff Mtn Film Festival. The Hig and Erin story will be there, no doubt, as well as other packrafting videos like a CarpeyBiggs Grand Canyon one. Luc Mehl as soon as he unclips his ski bindings and climbs back in his packraft will make something quirky and fun with his new Canon.

Maybe this could be the year of the packraft at Banff.

Recent Packrafting Links

Alastair Humphreys has a neat, short introductory piece on packrafts at a blog called Rohantime. It's probably the best brief introduction to what a packraft is and how to get into it that I have seen.

Meanwhile, there's Andy Skurka's big Alaska Trip in all its Ted Koeppel and Michael Brown glory in the March Issue of National Geographic Magazine and on-line here and a bit more here at NG Adventure on-line where Andy has a brief but interesting interview.

It's still winter here in AK, the time of map dreaming and scheming for the coming season of joy. So I'll leave you with these 1:200,000 Russian maps (free source) of an amazing corner of Tibet west of China, north of India and slightly NW of Myanmar, where I'd like to do a packraft loop and name it "Dharma Cycle".

This is not the Tibet of high, wind-blown plateaus and grasslands, but rather rivers and maritime glaciers with forests of spruce, pine, and what looks like cottonwood. It's a green and forested place, east of Namcha Barwa and the Tsangpo Gorge (headwaters of the Brahmaputra). It seems to be the most lush place in the Himalaya, perhaps because this elbow in the headwaters of the Brahmaputra are the nearest high peaks to the Indian Ocean and its summertime wet monsoon.

Another Great Modern Packrafting Adventure

Alastair Humphreys' video's professional production puts my silly little vids to shame:

An Expedition Across Iceland from Alastair Humphreys on Vimeo.

Thanks for making me look bad Alastair!

And on the other end of the world they're still boating!

Alastair Humphreys and Andy Ward have just recently posted their cross-Scotland winter journey, a classic packrafting adventure, a must-watch video:

Across Scotland by foot and packraft from alastair Humphreys on Vimeo.

Thanks Alastair. Super cool and by the looks of it wicked cold! Looking forward to more.....

(PS His story's pretty good, too.)