A man has been fined $2,500 and banned from US National Parks for two years after being caught leading an illegal packrafting trip in the Grand Canyon. As the National Park Service (NPS) explained in a statement, Samuel H Edwards was convicted of the misdemeanor charges: leading a backcountry packrafting trip without a permit and entering a restricted area.
Packrafting, or river assisted backcountry travel (RABT), is somewhere between backpacking and hiking. Packrafters use compact inflatable boats that can be compressed small enough to fit in a backpack to link up sections of trail, allowing them to explore different routes or visit isolated locations.
