On Earth Day (April 22) of 2010 Dave Freeman and Amy Voytilla will begin a three year, 11,700 mile journey across North America by kayak, canoe, and dogsled. Their goal is to use their journey as a platform for gaining support and protection for North America’s waterways and wild places, while actively engaging over 100,000 elementary and middle school students in their journey though this website and live school assemblies.
“We want to educate people about the importance of making healthy choices that simplify life, reduce your global footprint, and provide quality time for friends, family, and outdoor pursuits. We hope to inspire people to make lifestyle changes that are environmentally sound and improve quality of life,” explains Dave.
Their odyssey begins by kayak on the Pacific Coast studying temperate rainforests and marine life of the Pacific Northwest, but this is just the first in a series of six stages on their quest to highlight North America's wildest places.
After kayaking 1,400 miles from Seattle, Wash. to Skagway, Alaska, the team will progress over the history-studded mountains in the footsteps of the Klondike Gold Rush, to the home of Inuit along the Arctic Ocean where polar bears roam. From the Arctic Ocean they will dogsled and canoe south through central Canada, kayak across the Great Lakes, then follow the annual whale migration past the salt marshes and sea turtles of the Atlantic Coast, finishing in the mangroves and coral reefs of the Florida Keys.(See route description for more details)
Through lesson plans and daily Web updates, elementary and middle school students will learn alongside the explorers through www.wildernessclassroom.com and adults can follow their progress through www.NorthAmericanOdyssey.com.
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Latest News
| Wild Beauty of the Peel Watershed 08/26/2010  We have just spent the past six days paddling through a very special landscape. I call it special for two reasons: 1.) it contains vast tracts of intact wild lands and 2.) it possess a stark beauty unlike any other place that Dave and I have traveled in. This area is the Peel Watershed. To give y [ ... ] |
| Highlight from Hiking in Tombstone Territorial Park 08/20/2010  We left the Yukon River and hiked into a new watershed, in order to continue our progress north. We spent 8 days hiking 70 miles in Tombstone Territorial Park. The first 30 miles of the hike are on an old road. It started off as a somewhat well-maintained gravel road that gradually transformed int [ ... ] |
| Yukon Salmon 08/19/2010  by Kevin Boltz Prior to this trip we had all done a considerable amount of research about the Yukon River ranging from topics such as the Klondike Gold Rush, Yukon wildlife, and places of interest. I also researched the fish found in the waters of the Yukon River. I was researching fish [ ... ] |
| Paddling From Carmacks to Dawson on the Yukon River 08/09/2010  We flew through Carmacks. The Shedd crew was keen to stick with us until Minto. Melissa, Kevin, Maureen, Konrad, and Kelsey were thrilled to join us for the infamous Five Finger Rapids. The only word we collectively decided sums up our experience in the rapids is “anticlimactic”. The experi [ ... ] |
| Treats from the Trail 08/04/2010  by Maureen Hanzel Trail mix, with rice and beans every night is not necessarily the case while camping: with a few simple tricks one can create some tasty treats. Dehydration is your friend. Make sure to pack fresh fruits and vegetables. Find proteins that will last. [ ... ] |
| Shedd Team, Signing Off 08/04/2010  It is hard to believe that our 8 day journey has finally come to an end. It has been a fantastic experience for all of us and we are all taking home memories that will last a lifetime. In 8 days we have traveled over 240 miles maneuvering through shallow sand bars and anticipated rapids. The weathe [ ... ] |
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.
