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 Updates Planning and Logistics MTI Adventurewear and Palm become Silver Sponsors of the NAO!
MTI Adventurewear and Palm become Silver Sponsors of the NAO!
Saturday, 31 October 2009 20:06
Returning to the office after a school assembly, Dave and I were surprised to see a very large box on the doorstep. The box was from MTI Adventurewear! I jumped up and down with joy and Dave grabbed some scissors to open it up. The box was full of MTI PFDs and our drysuits from Palm Equipment. Thanks to MTI and Palm--two of our Silver Sponsors--we are ready to paddle some big water!
The PFDs that we received are the PFDiva, Big Buoy, Velocity, and Maya. We quickly snatched up the Velocity and Maya (since they were new to us) with plans to test them out on our paddling adventure out East.
After spending two weeks of whitewater canoeing in the Maya, I can say that it performed wonderfully! It has a nice fit. None of the floatation was in my way when paddling, bracing, and even swimming. There was absolutely zero slipping around or riding up. The swim test was the ultimate way to determine if that PFD was going to stay in place-- and it certainly did! Oh . . . and in case you were wondering . . . we floated very well too! Dave had a similar review of the Velocity. Definitely two thumbs up!
The drysuits are still in their packaging, awaiting the start of the North American Odyssey-- even though we are super eager to use them! Dave got a Stikine 2.0 Immersion Suit and I got the women's specific Element Immersion Suit XP250. Just looking at them makes me feel all warm and fuzzy-- because I know they will keep us warm and dry on the Inside Passage, the Yukon, the Great Lakes, and all the other waterways we'll be paddling!
Thank you MTI Adventurewear and Palm Equipment!!
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