Packrafting on the Hayduke: Don’t Do It
Reading Time: 8 minutes Before starting the Hayduke, I thought it would be a good idea to packraft certain sections of the route. After hiking the Hayduke and packrafting the intended sections, I am hoping to offer some advice to future Hayduke hikers and/or would-be packrafters.
Don’t do it.
If my past exploits in the outdoors have taught me anything, it’s that your focus should be on the goal or objective at hand – not on side quests. Yes, side quests are nice, but when they end up eclipsing or hindering your primary objective, adjustments need to be made.
Packrafting on the Hayduke was a series of side quests that were far more trouble than they were worth.
Where It Went Wrong
I had anticipated that the three sections of the Hayduke I intended to packraft: the Colorado River outside Moab, the Escalante River, and the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park. Ultimately, I ended up on my packraft in all three of these sections, but each presented its own practical and logistical challenges.
After tireless Hayduke planning, I thought I was ready for each of these.
I was not.
The Colorado River Outside Moab
The Colorado River outside of Moab, Utah – at the start of the Hayduke after it exits Arches National Park – was meant to be the most relaxed and pleasant portion of the packrafting.
A nice introduction to my packrafting gear facilitated by the wide, calm, rapid-free Colorado River as it winds its way towards its confluence with the Green River. Unfortunately, the headwinds I encountered on the day I found myself packrafting this section were brutal.
But before any of that even began, I had to deal with the challenge of quicksand lining the banks of the Colorado River (I lost my much-loved Batman sandals, which I got on the Continental Divide Trail six years earlier to the quicksand) and a leaky valve on my packraft.
The headwind was so strong that it was literally blowing me back upriver. I was rowing so hard against the wind (in the direction of the current, mind you) that I even managed to break my ultralight paddle.
It was an incredibly frustrating day for what had the potential to be a cruisey float down the river fit for sipping on a nice beverage while watching the parade of dirt bikes, ATVs, and Jeeps kicking up dust on
I’ll concede this experience was a combination of unfortunate weather and my inexperience, which is why I’ve suggested an alternate option for this section if you’re deadset on navigating some of the Hayduke via water.
The Escalante River
The Escalante River was supposed to be the crown jewel of my Hayduke packrafting adventure. This stretch also required me to carry all my packrafting gear for the longest amount of time on either end of the packraft.
Hiking through the Escalante River was (is?) apparently a mess of scrub, quicksand, and general unpleasantness – certainly not a highlight of the Hayduke. Packrafting was meant to turn this otherwise not-so-exciting section into a nice float down the river 26 mi / 42 km from where the Hayduke meets it outside Capitol Reef National Park down to Coyote Gulch.
However, there were two issues with packrafting the Escalante as part of a Hayduke hike (besides having to carry all the extra weight into and out of the section):
- The Escalante River is not the calm and winding river that was the Colorado outside of Moab. It is filled with rock gardens and some rapids that, although minor, pose a challenge when you’re in a packraft.
- The water level in the Escalante River is highly variable, and when I made my descent, the flow was lower than ideal. Despite the water level being high enough to get me down the river (and to make some of the technical sections a bit spicy), I ended up dragging my ass on the riverbed and across rocks – a lot.
This was complicated by the fact that I had brought as lightweight gear as possible. My flatwater, non-self-bailing packraft was not the right tool for the job. I had the expectation that I would not be taking on water, so I figured a self-bailer would be unnecessary. I was wrong.
Additionally, because my paddle had broken in the Colorado River and I had failed to replace it, I was left with only one functional blade. I was left with what was essentially a canoe paddle instead of a packraft/kayak paddle.
There was a bailout point about halfway through at via the Scorpion Wilderness Study Area (if you don’t want to hike the rest of the Escalante), but I wanted to see Coyote Gulch and stuck it out. Probably should have just hiked instead of floated.
What’s worse? There’s a Hayduke alternate via Halls Creek Narrows and Stevens Canyon that most of the Hayduke hikers I met took instead of hiking the Escalante. Nearly all of them reported this being one of their favorite sections of the entire trail once reaching the end.
I can’t say the same for the Escalante.
Maybe I’ll go back one day with the proper gear when the water level is a bit more forgiving.
The Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park
This was the section of the packrafting journey I was most excited about. After rafting the Grand Canyon a couple of years ago, I (mistakenly) thought I knew everything about rafting in the canyon.
I did the entire thing in a huge 18-ft / 5.5-m raft, that means I can do it in a flatwater packraft, right?
Ahead of time, I noted where the rapids were and made sure I would be able to portage around them (i.e., get out of the water with with my packraft and walk around the rapids on the shore).
What I failed to realize was that all the tiny waves and riffles that are of no note whatsoever when you’re in an enormous raft suddenly become serious obstacles in a tiny packraft. It’s the same sort of idea where you don’t think much of stepping up and over rocks or steps while you’re hiking, but then if you were biking that same trail, seemingly innocuous obstacles suddenly become hugely consequential.
Navigating the river in a flatwater packraft with an inadequate PFD and no way of attaching my backpack to my raft was not a wise choice. After my mishap on the Escalante River, I got a new paddle, but that wasn’t enough to give me confidence enough to believe this was a good idea.
I was scared.
It’s not often that I have a physical response to my level of discomfort in the backcountry, and everything in my head and my body was telling me this was a bad idea—solo boating, in general, is a bad idea.
After making it to my first expected portage around Kwagunt Rapid, I found the steep, tamarisk-lined shore incredibly difficult to comfortably stop at to get myself and my packraft out of the water. With panic nearly setting in that I would be swept away through the rapid by the deceptively strong current, I managed to get myself and my packraft up the embankment.
In the process, I managed to pop my packraft.
Instead of attempting to repair it, I took it as a sign that my gut instinct to abandon this leg of the packrafting journey was pointing me in the right direction. I packed up my gear and instead hitched a ride with the rafters who had let me camp with them the previous night.
My advice: do not attempt to packraft the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park as part of the Hayduke unless you’re 1) not alone, 2) an experienced packrafter, and 3) have the proper gear.
An Alternative Option
If you are hellbent on packrafting (or otherwise aqua blazing) a section of the Hayduke, my recommendation is to do it on the Colorado River between Moab and Spanish Bottom.
This can be done by renting a canoe in Moab from a company that will then retrieve it from Spanish Bottom for you. This way, you have a proper watercraft, don’t have to carry extra gear, and you will have some support should something go wrong.
Alternatively, you can do it in a semi-disposable Intex Explorer and then have a company pack out your “trash” (I have two friends who did this in the fall of one year).
The potential downside to doing this is that once you reach Spanish Bottom, you’ll either need to get a hitch across the Colorado River to access the Hayduke in Canyonlands National Park or hike the Happy Maze Alternate.
I’ve been told the Happy Maze Alternate is awesome (I hope to go back and do it), but by doing the float of the Colorado River and the Happy Maze Alternate, you essentially miss all of the “official” Hayduke from Moab all the way to Hanskville. Depending on the time of year, a hitch across the Colorado may mean a long wait at the shore.
As a final note, if you’re willing to carry all the appropriate gear (a proper PFD, self-bailing whitewater packraft, and helmet), you could always send it on the Escalante. But I would recommend doing this as a standalone trip when you can better time the water levels.
