Assembly Instructions

Flying with Folding Boats

Mapping Out Your Next Trip

Packing & Securing Gear in a PakCanoe

Repair & Maintenance of Pakboats

Skin on Frame Boats

Surviving Mosquitoes & Black Flies

Colorado River, Grand Canyon      1997

Dear Alv,

Riding the river that carved the Grand Canyon is a pilgrimage to be savored. Our permit is here - what to use for a boat?

Rafts are too big, kayaks are too small, and a rental canoe is a pig in a poke, or worse. An open boat is a home away from home. I can stretch out & have access to maps, camera, wetsuit & a dry shirt. Solo has spoiled me. I chose my own route. I go off alone, singing, or join the group and joke about.

My choice is an Escape 15. At the very worst I could pack it up and ride duff on a raft. But this really was no gamble for me as I had paddled an 18' Pakboat on a 30-day fly-in expedition in Labrador. There it outperformed the hardshells, being lighter, dryer & showing less wear in the shallows. I collected all the Colorado River stories I could and braced myself for a lot of bailing and quick capsizing.

My trip was a first - high and dry - flying over the biggest water. Where a hard boat punches through a wave and takes on water, the Escape, like a raft, flexes and takes me right over the top. Rarely did I bale, which means a lot when the rapids are long and the banks too steep. The tumblehome and lightness of craft kept me upright as I threw myself on a brace, broadside through 8 ft standing waves.

The day I did overdo it - swamping in Granite and bending my rails midship, I did a riverbank repair and was ready for Crystle. The few swims I had I was able to self rescue, That is, turn the canoe with air bags upright and jump back in without going to shore. Never duff, I ran with the kayaks, surfing every wave, only I got to shed my wet suit on the sunny flats.

I just got an invitation to run the Yampa River. My rental selection may be greater in Colorado, but never mind. I'll pull out my Escape and paddle the same hull I practice on here, and let the airline portage for me again.

Ann Mooney