Thanks to the guys for a great trip. Huge thanks to Hyperlite Mountain Gear and Alpacka Raft for making the gear that makes these trips possible.

Notes on gear;

1) Packs-we all carried Hyperlite Porter packs. Tony and I took the 2400 size, Dylan and Josh took the 5400 size. Both worked equally well I'd say. For the long pushes we'd take things off the bike and put them in our packs. Having all weight on the bike for a trip like this would be a mistake due to the amount of pushing and boulder smashing.

2) This was my first big trip with the Hyperlite Shell. We didn't have much rain but it kept it off and wasn't too warm or sweaty to wear. We also used these on really hot days for sun and bug protection. They worked really well for this.

3) The Alpacka Scouts were the right boats to take for this trip as they weigh almost nothing. If we'd been planning a one-way eastbound trip the Alpacka Caribou's may have been a better choice as they're light and are designed to carry bikes. A westbound trip doesn't allow for skipping any of the trail in a boat due to the direction of river flow. We didn't carry pfd's as our exposure to moving water was minimal and manageable.

4) Fatbikes are the way to go for this. They allow at least 50 km of riding that wouldn't be possible on regular bikes. They also provide suspension without moving parts that I wouldn't want to have on a trip like this. We all had geared bikes which were nice. If we'd destroyed a derailleur they wouldn't have been as nice-it's hard to believe we didn't. We did pack a cog that could replace the disk brake if needed. This is an emergency fix as you end up with a fixie after flipping your wheel. How many tubes to bring is a guessing game-flat tires stressed me out as much as any other gear concern.

5) We packed about 1.8 pounds of food per day each. This seemed about right although when we decided not to do the return trip our food intake went through the roof.

6) Cameras- Tony brought a film SLR and shot black and white. He also brought an enormously heavy 1940's vintage medium format camera. Dylan brought a Luxix camera, most of the color shots are his. I also brought a Luxix (LX100) but threw it in a swamp-it's since come back to life.

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