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 Visiting the School in Bella Bella, British Columbia
Visiting the School in Bella Bella, British Columbia
Tuesday, 01 June 2010 00:00 Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 November 2010 03:34
In last week’s Cast Your Vote, you decided that we should visit the school in Bella Bella and ask students questions you provided. I am happy to report that we had a great visit to the school in Bella Bella.
As Dave and I walked to the entrance of the school, we noticed rows and rows of bicycles. These bicycles were decorated with brightly colored streamers. When we walked inside, none of the students were in the classrooms. All of the students and teachers were outside on their sports field.
We quickly learned that this was “Sports Day”. It happens once a year. Every grade participates. They had a bicycle parade in the morning. Then the field was divided into stations, so teams of students would rotate through all sorts of activities. The activities were things like soccer, shot-put, high jump, balloon popping, nail pounding, long jump, and face painting. It looked like a lot of fun!
Dave interviewed about 15 students. Here is what we found out:
What do you do for your birthday?
They have cake and blow out candles. They invite their friends to birthday parties. Their celebration is very similar to what we do in the United States.
What do you do for fun?
They like to play X-box 360, ride bikes, go fishing, and play outside.
What is your favorite food?
Students’ favorite foods were Chinese food, pizza, meatballs.
What is your favorite animal?
Half of the group said dogs and the other half said cats.
The Bella Bella school was a very nice place. They have a Cultural Center right inside the building! Most of the students are Heiltsuk, which is the First Nations group of people native to this area. All of the teachers work to blend Heiltsuk traditions with their teaching. The average class size is 15 students. The school is currently monitoring a Sandhill Crane nest. They get live video from a camera near the nest. Apparently the eggs will hatch any day now. They are also planning to set up a camera near a river, so they can observe the Grizzly Bears feeding during the salmon run—right in their classrooms!
Thank you for suggesting that we talk to students. We had a lot of fun at “Sports Day” and the students enjoyed answering your questions. Did you see some similarities to between what the students in Bella Bella like compared to what you like? Are there any differences?
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