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 Rain, Wind and Cold. . . Fall is Here
Rain, Wind and Cold. . . Fall is Here
Saturday, 24 September 2011 19:57
On Tuesday, we woke up to the sound of light rain on the tent. It was mellow as we packed up camp, but increased and persisted throughout the day. Wind too. . . from the east. . . a headwind!? We paddled, keeping warm. Passed the town of Whitedog. There was a dam not too far after that. Portaged around no problem. That was one of the shorter dam portages we've had to do on the Winnipeg River.
After the portage it got colder, windier, wetter. I was lamenting that I didn't keep my neoprene mitts handy that day. Fennel slept for the most part. He hates the rain. There was one an awkward moment where he woke up while we were rounding a windswept point. There were some rather steep waves and Fennel chose that moment to stand up in the canoe. Dave's stern words got him to sit rather quickly.
We didn't go very far that day. We were halted by the wind where the river opened up into a wider lake. What a relief to set up the tarp, then the tent, then crawl inside to remove wet layers and bask in a dry, warm sleeping bag.
Things were a bit better the next day. Still some rain, but the wind had shifted from the east to the northeast. That actually allowed us to use our little sail a bit. We stopped briefly in the vacation town of Minaki. It was a bit surreal to walk around and imagine what it would be like in the height of summer. Now it was cold, high on a hill, in the wind, and rather empty.
After that stop, we were hesitant to stop again. There was an unspoken concern that if we stopped for long in these cold, wet conditions, hypothermia would soon follow. Macro Bars kept us going. We finally stopped around 2pm, once the rain settled down again.
Shortly after lunch, Dave pointed out an expanding patch of blue behind us. This blanket of gray that had been hovering over us for several days was breaking up! Shortly after this, we were in full sun under a clear sky. There was still a crisp breeze, but that didn't matter with the glorious sun overhead.
That night we got within striking distance of Kenora, Ontario. The next day was just as sunny. We paddled the six remaining miles, portaged past one more dam, and happily paddled to the local campground. How surreal to see so many big buildings and motorboats from the water. Our wilderness landscape of white pines and spruce gave way to summer cottages and docks. We had made it to Lake of the Woods.
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