Vanishing Falls by Packraft, Video.

[jmac]

Here is a little film I made in 2010 for the Do You Know Tasmania show, that wasn't uploaded to the web until today. This journey coincided with low water levels and therefore included far more packing than rafting. I offer the strongest possible advice; please do not attempt this journey unless you are highly experienced in carrying large loads through the most severe off-track terrain. Production is very amateurish but I hope you enjoy it. Regards, John

http://youtu.be/Fg12zzrxYjg

[Nuts]

Nice work. Iv'e seen or heard of some of your other hard trips. Good to see the people side in this one, though that head knock looks painful, so easy to do. Also good to see you both really are humans

[MickyB]

Great film jmac. Vanishing Falls look amazing. Would love to get there one day. Good to see Matt still had a sense of humour after head butting the rock. It did look painful. Glad to see he had his helmet on for the start of day 6

[Swifty]

Brilliant, thanks for posting that John.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Great stuff John, thanks for sharing a part of the adventure!

[Lizzy]

You guys did a great job staying upright at all with those packs on!!!
Great report on somewhere I'll never see.....

[icefest]

Stunning.

it was nice to see a video of the falls.

[stepbystep]

Just. Awesome.

Thanks John and Matt.

[aryeah]

Wow! Great work.

There's a variation on the Vanishing Falls theme here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy46WGHjOiQ

[goanna]

Great video. Really evocative of this great area. Still I wonder about the craze for packrafting. If you want to carry that much weight why not a dozen bottles of rum and a lilo?

[climberman]

Great video. Really evocative of this great area. Still I wonder about the craze for packrafting. If you want to carry that much weight why not a dozen bottles of rum and a lilo?

Their packrafts would be about the same weight as a lilo.

[jmac]

Yes, liloing gear is heavy. By the time you add spares, repair gear and thicker wetwear, lilos lose. I've liloed plenty of those remote rivers and Alpackas are now the watercraft for me.

I'd pass on the rum but if you could dehydrate some crisp lightly wooded chardonnay I'd be interested.

Thanks for all the kind comments.

John

[goanna]

This is a link to one of Dave Noble's photos that shows what the well dressed liloer needs.

http://www.david-noble.net/Tasmania/DenisonRiver/Denison.html

ie normal walking gear plus a lilo and a small repair kit. Appoximate extra weight 1.5 Kg. From the video it seems that a packrafter needs a raft, paddle, helmet, repair kit and wetsuit which may weigh an extra 10 Kg+. This would seem to be about the same as a dozen bottles of OP rum plus the lilo. The rum also has the advantage of becoming lighter each night although the after effects of this much rum would certainly impede progress the next day.

[jmac]

I tried liloing like that in 1981, also in the Denison and Gordon Splits area, the summer before Dave Noble's photo was taken, I believe. It works for mucking about in short sections but you can't travel like that. By the next summer we had it properly sorted. If you want to make meaningful progress down a river you do need a paddle, spare lilo (1 spare lilo between 2 people is a good ratio), helmet and definitely wetsuit, without which you freeze after an hour or so. The point on which you are correct is your observation of the wetsuits for packrafting. They are not needed, but Matt's wetsuit helped keep him warm in the scrub. I just had a pair of thin sailing pants. If you are genuinely interested in the evolution of packrafting gear in Tasmania, I am slowly compiling a collection of stories at www.mclaine.org which you may like to read and watch. Though much of it is still in draft form you can trace the changes in equipment over 34 years in this sport; I'm always keen for gear that's better and lighter.

[climberman]

From the video it seems that a packrafter needs a raft, paddle, helmet, repair kit and wetsuit which may weigh an extra 10 Kg+.

Aside from the wetsuit, which either party may have, you're looking at about 3-4kg with a raft, repair kit and helmet (if running whitewater). But hey, don't take the word of the people that do it, make your own call

Having done a bunch of small pack rafting trips, I can tell you that the combined extra is not a way bit close to 10kg. Three days' gear, and rafting stuff, is unlikely to see me over 10kg, certainly not over 12, total pack weight. Including pfd.

I think Dave bought a packraft.

[north-north-west]

Great stuff John, thanks for sharing a part of the adventure!

I vote Vanishing Falls as your next big one! But without the packrafts - that would make it too easy.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Great stuff John, thanks for sharing a part of the adventure!

I vote Vanishing Falls as your next big one! But without the packrafts - that would make it too easy.

I'd be silly enough to go....

[north-north-west]

. . . and good enough to get back, I hope.

[ILUVSWTAS]

. . . and good enough to get back, I hope.

[biggbird]

. . . and good enough to get back, I hope.

I thought you didn't like people? Is the Tassie air getting to you or something?

[ILUVSWTAS]

. . . and good enough to get back, I hope.

I thought you didn't like people? Is the Tassie air getting to you or something?

I think she just relates to like minded, non people liking people...

[north-north-west]

. . . and good enough to get back, I hope.

I thought you didn't like people? Is the Tassie air getting to you or something?

No, I'm just practising being polite. My psychologist suggested it.

[msw]

Hi John & Matt. Here are a couple of photos that we took when you stopped at Cavern Camp on New River Lagoon from that trip. Great video.

from Matt Watton.

[jmac]

Those are great thanks Matt! It was really cool to meet you there that year and hear about your amazing kayak adventures. Cheers, J.