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 Please help us solve problems that we encounter each week.
Please help us solve problems that we encounter each week.
Sunday, 04 September 2011 07:35
Amy and I are in the middle of a 3 year journey across North America by canoe, kayak, and dogsled. Each night we set up our tent in a new location and we travel about 20 miles each day. Our goal is to explore North America's wildest places to learn about the plants, animals, and people living in these amazing places.
Every day we are confronted by new challenges and we need you to help us come up with ways to solve these problems. This week we have two problems that we need your help with. After you have thought about them and discussed them with your classmates please submit your answers using the comment form at the bottom of the page, or email your answers to dave (at) wildernessclassroom.com.
Problem #1
What kinds of data should we collect?
Each week we record data to share with you. We will post this data in our Notes From The Trail every Monday. In the past we have recorded miles traveled, animals seen, weather data, what we eat, and many other things. However, we have a limited amount of time and battery power for our computers, so we need you to let us know what types data you want us to record. Please send us a list of things you would like us to record and share with you each week.
Problem #2
Help! The water is covered in green algae!
In some parts of the lake you can barely see the water because the algae is so thick.
The water in Lake Winnipeg is full of algae and lots of sediment. We are in the middle of the lake now and we have learned that farther south there is even more algae. We normally collect our drinking water from the lakes and rivers we are traveling on, but we are afraid to drink the water out of Lake Winnipeg because the algae produces toxins that can make us sick. What should we do? How can we get clean water to drink?
Thank you for your help! We are looking forward to reading your creative solutions to our problems.
Keep Exploring!
Dave
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