For the fourth time I’ve been packrafting on the Salza River.

Four days in a cabin somewhere in the Alps with a wonderful group of people.

Just another little backcountry trip during New Year’s Eve.

This is not an actual travel report, I just want to show some pictures of the time I spent in Happy Valley, located 130 kilometers south of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska’s far north.

Another Packrafting trip in the Eastern part of Austria.

Packrafting trip in the Southern part of Austria.

Together with a few friends I celebrated the night of New Year’s Eve in a cozy cabin up in the mountains, two days later I was on another overnight hike, this time with our tents and a different group of people.

This trip was supposed to be my “big hike” in 2011, unfortunately I had to cancel it. Now I want to explain the reasons, maybe this is help to other people.

Looking at my upcoming time in Alaska I wanted to improve my packrafting skills a bit. Therefor I rafted on two nice rivers in the Alps which wasn’t as hard as expected due to the relatively low water levels. This also includes some hiking with my friend Eva.

A short winter hike through the snowed up mountains in South Austria. The goal was to escape the loud New Year celebrations and to test some new pieces of gear at the same time.