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 Weathering Hurricane Sandy
Weathering Hurricane Sandy
Wednesday, 31 October 2012 11:24
Last Saturday and Sunday we helped Bill and Carmen Stage, the owners of New Jersey Kayak, prepare their kayak shop and marina for Hurricane Sandy. We used dozens of ropes to lash down kayaks, motorboats, docks, tables, and anything else that wasn’t bolted to the ground. As we were driving back to Bill and Carmen’s house a police officer informed us that their neighborhood was being evacuated. Luckily their friends, the Richies, invited us to stay with them. We quickly packed our bags and drove to the Richie’s house on Sunday night as the winds began to increase.
Bill and Carmen's Kayak Business, New Jersey Kayak, after Hurricane Sandy.
Around 6 PM on Monday night the winds briefly subsided, the sky cleared, and the full moon‘s rays illuminated the tangled branches of the large oak tree that crashed to the ground an hour before. A few minutes later the winds and rain returned. The eye of Hurricane Sandy had passed over the house in Barnegat, New Jersey where we weathered the storm with our new friends, the Richies. Early Tuesday morning the high winds and pelting rain ended and the floodwaters began to subside.
Dave prepares to paddle through the woods to New Jersey Kayak.
Bill works hit way through the flooded marsh grass on our way to his kayak shop.
We were anxious to see how New Jersey Kayak had weathered the storm, but the floodwaters still covered all of the roads leading to the coast. Bill and I decided to kayak about a mile through the forest and across the flooded coastal plain to the kayak shop. Paddling through the flooded forest reminded me of paddling through the flooded Amazon Rainforest. We pulled ourselves through the woods by grabbing the tree trunks and tall grasses. After about 30 minutes we reached their marina. It was a bittersweet sight. We were relieved to find all of the kayaks, boats, and buildings intact. About 3 feet of water had washed through the marina and into the building. Parts of the docks and fences were ripped apart by the wind and waves. Several dump trucks full of debris and an old wooden 20-25 foot motorboat were swept onto their property by the storm.
Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy from David Freeman on Vimeo.
Several feet of water still covered the marina so there wasn’t much we could do, but take pictures. Bill began talking about the basic steps he and Carmen will take over the coming days, weeks and months to rebuild as we paddle back to his truck.
I am truly amazed by how well Bill and Carmen are dealing with an event that has turned their lives and their business upside down. Amy and I are planning to spend a few days here helping them move all of their kayaks to their home and begin the clean up process.