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 Fort Kent, Maine
Fort Kent, Maine
Saturday, 11 August 2012 09:30
I am happy to report that we are done with the portage. Although it was nice to use our legs for a while, the portage was a challenge. We met some very nice people along the way. It was quite a relief to launch our kayaks on lake Pohenegamook. We paddled across the lake and into the St. Francis River, which forms the border between Quebec and Maine.
Our first day of paddling on the St. Francis reminded me of our training paddles on Salt Creek in Illinois because the river was very shallow and meandered around. Any time we got to a drop in elevation, the water was too shallow to paddle so we would wade down the mini rapids.
The one marked rapids on the river, Kelly Rapids, was a challenge. With the water too low to paddle, Dave and I had a mile long stretch of wading and working our kayaks past large, slippery rocks. Eventually we came out into a series of lakes. They were gorgeous. Right away, we witnessed a bald eagle terrorizing a flock of mergansers. As we paddled out onto the main body of each lake, we would look up an the surrounding steep, forested hills. It reminded me of being in the Boundary Waters, but with more dramatic topography. We have seen many loons, mergansers, beaver, and even a black bear.
Yesterday, we packed our soggy tent and left a wonderful campsite on Glacier Lake and paddled downstream to the confluence with the St. John River. Gray skies and rain persisted all day. We were surprised to see were motorboats and people everywhere. We learned that people were out fishing in force, hoping to win a Ford Focus in the annual Fort Kent International Muskie Derby.
I don't usually like paddling in the rain, but the all day showers yesterday were a welcome change in the weather. Several people have reported that they hadn't seen rain in over a month. As we have seen from the rivers and lakes, the area could really use some rain.
The weather didn't put a damper on the festivities in Fort Kent. We paddled in to town in time to check the scoreboard for the Muskie Derby and witness the annual making of the world's largest ploye at their annual Ploye Festival. Wondering what ploye is? Someone described it to me as a cross between a crepe and a pancake. It is made out of buckwheat flour. We sampled a couple of butter-covered pieces of the giant ploye yesterday. Very tasty!
