During stage 1 we will kayak 1,400 miles from Seattle, Washington to Skagway, Alaska. The Pacific Northwest is home to a wide range of aquatic and terrestrial animals. We will be studying whales and other marine mammals, kelp forests, salmon, and many other species.
The Pacific Northwest is home to a variety of large land mammals including Grizzly Bears, and Black Bears. Above and below the surface we are sure to find plenty of things to learn about. Many of these large mammals need large undeveloped spaces to thrive and the roadless sections of British Columbia and Alaska provide the perfect habitat.
From Skagway, Alaska we will hike over the Chilkoot Pass in the footsteps of thousands of gold seekers who struggled across the pass to reach the Klondike. Many of artifacts remain from those early days, and we will follow their path all the way to Dawson City along the mighty Yukon River.
From Bennet Lake on the eastern side of the Chilkoot Pass we will canoe through a chain of lakes that form the headwaters of the Yukon River past White Horse and down the swift flowing Yukon River to Dawson City. 
From Dawson we will hike 100 miles through the mountains to the headwaters of the Blackstone River. The Blackstone flows into the Peel River, which flows in the McKenzie River, which will lead us to the Arctic Ocean. The rivers flowing through these rugged mountains as some of the most pristine wild rivers in North America, with hundreds of miles of flowing waterways between towns or roads.
After over 2,600 miles of paddling and hiking we hope to reach the Arctic Ocean before freeze up. We will spend the month of October,2010 training our dogs, and learning about native life in the Arctic. In November we will head south along the McKenzie River by dog team, crossing 1,800 miles of frozen wilderness. There are many remote native communities along our way and we are sure to learn a lot from the people we encounter.
When the ice melts in the Spring of 2011 we will transition from dogsled to canoe and paddle 2,300 miles along the historic travel and trade route pioneered by Alexander McKenzie, Samuel Hearne, and other Canadian Explorers in the 1700's. We will finish this stage of our journey in the fall of 2011 by completing the 8 1/2 mile Grand Portage which will lead us to the rock shore of Lake Superior.
After spending the winter giving presentations and making final preparations we will begin 4,800 mile kayak journey from Grand Portage, Minnesota to Key West, Florida. The first 2,200 miles will take us through the Great Lakes and out the Saint Lawrence Seaway. 
During the final stage of our journey we will kayak the length of the Atlantic Coast from the Saint Lawrence Seaway to Key West, Florida. We will be following the seasonal whale migration from the Bay of Fundy in Maine to the warm clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way we will visit cities large and small, and study a variety of ecosystems and environmental topics. We also plan to take side trips into the cyprus swamps and Everglades National Park looking for Alligators, birds, and other critters.
Expedition Blog Looking for the positive in the face of a scary, destructive natural disaster: Hurricane Sandy
Looking for the positive in the face of a scary, destructive natural disaster: Hurricane Sandy
Monday, 29 October 2012 08:27
Student Response Worksheet (Upper) Student Response Worksheet (Lower)
The wind is howling and the trees are swaying, but Amy and I are safe and sound, waiting for Hurricane Sandy to hit the New Jersey coast. We have met some wonderful, friendly families who have invited us into their homes to weather the storm. The first family that we met was forced to evacuate their home because of the threat of flooding, so we have moved in with another family that lives on high ground several miles from the ocean. The hurricane is not predicted to arrive for another 12 hours, but many homes and businesses have already been flooded and damaged. The storm is predicted to cause over a billion dollars in damage, many people’s houses will be destroyed and millions of people will be negatively impacted by Hurricane Sandy. However, through our journey across North America we have learned that looking for the positive things in all situations is important. So, the question we are trying to answer in this week’s Notes From the Trail is, why do hurricanes happen and what are the benefits of a hurricane.
The predicted path of Hurricane Sandy. Image by U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
What is a hurricane and how do they form?
A hurricane is an intense, rotating storm that forms in tropical oceans. The winds in a hurricane are 75 miles per hour or more. Hurricanes are generally smaller than storms in mid-latitudes, typically about 300 miles in diameter. Hurricanes form over really warm ocean water of 80°F or warmer. Plus, the wind must be blowing in the same direction and at the same speed to force air upward from the ocean surface. Winds flow outward above the storm allowing the air below to rise. The air cools off very quickly as it rises above the warm ocean. Hurricanes usually form between 5 to 15 degrees latitude north and south of the equator. The Coriolis Force is needed to create the spin in the hurricane and it becomes too weak near the equator, so hurricanes can never form very close to the equator.
What are the benefits of hurricanes?
The East Coast is lined with barrier islands, from Long Island, near New York City, all the way to Florida. The barrier Islands are made of sand. Over time the wind and waves cause the islands to form, move, and disappear. Homes and communities on the barrier islands often see the most damage from flooding and high winds when a hurricane hits. However, James Pilkey, a Geology Professor at Duke University explained how the barrier islands are positively affected by hurricanes. "Barrier islands need hurricanes for their survival, especially at times of rising sea levels such as now. It's during hurricanes that islands get higher and wider," he said. "From a purely natural standpoint hurricanes are a blessing for islands, even though they're a curse for people who live there." (http://today.duke.edu/2004/09/hurricane_tip_0904.html)
Waves washing up on Long Beach Island. Photo by Joan Richie.
There are a few other benefits that come from hurricanes. They bring rainfall to areas. While too much rain can be catastrophic, there are some areas that depend on the rain from hurricanes. For example, Japan gets about half of its rainfall from typhoons. A hurricane churns up cool water from below the surface. This causes cooler surface water and air temperatures.
There are also many birds like the Piping Plover, which benefit from hurricanes. Piping Plover, and other shore birds lay their eggs on big sand beaches. They nest in areas that do not have grass or other vegetation. Hurricanes change the barrier islands and form the large sand beaches that Piping Plovers need to nest. A hurricane is like a forest fire. It causes a lot of destruction, but it also benefits some habitats, like the beaches that many shore birds depend on.
Hurricanes can be horribly destructive and there are many, many negative effects. We would never wish for a hurricane to happen, but we wanted look into some of the positive effects of this natural disaster. Hurricanes are sort of like forest fires. They can cause a lot of destruction, but they are a natural process.
Satellite image of Hurricane Sandy. Photo by NASA
Further Exploration
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-hurricane.htm
http://www.education.noaa.gov/Weather_and_Atmosphere/Hurricanes.html
http://www.globio.org/glossopedia/article.aspx?art_id=40
Live updates about Hurricane Sandy from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/28/nyregion/hurricane-sandy.html
Tracking Hurricane Sandy at the National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
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