•	Features
•	Hotline
•	Skills
•	Paddle People

< Nov/Dec 2001
	Hotline
Expedition News

Santa Monica Boulevard, Here We Come
Hollywood-types may have noticed some grungy canoeists portaging through downtown Los Angeles on the Pacific Coast Highway in August. Robert Carpenter, 31 and Jered Jellison, 26--who are trying to break Verlen Kruger and Steven Landick’s record 28,000-mile canoe journey set in 1983--recently phoned to report that they’ve made it across Texas and Arizona and to the Pacific Ocean. But it’s not all California dreaming. "We’re in Portage Hell," said Carpenter from a cell phone on the highway. "We’re hogging up the whole road--there’s not that big of a shoulder."

The duo is accustomed to such walks. So far they’ve had to portage 1,200 of the 4,000 miles they’ve covered of their planned 30,000-mile, four-year journey. The trek began in Kansas City, Kan., May 26, 2000. "It’s been way too much walking," said Carpenter. "Basically, we’re portaging across America."

The portaging began in earnest once they made it to Arizona’s Gila watershed from the Gulf of Mexico and Rio Grande. Unfortunately, the river dried up by the time they arrived, leaving them with a 575-mile portage from Duncan, Ariz., to La Jolla, Calif. "Apparently, Arizona likes to do a lot of farming," said Carpenter. Things got worse out West. Originally planning to follow the California aqueduct north to San Francisco, they were forbidden to use the man-made waterway, forcing them to take to the Pacific. "Our routine is we paddle out, crash land, and then pick all of our stuff up off the beach," he said. "You end up wiping out every time." Once surviving the Pacific to San Francisco, they plan to portage to the Willamette, then paddle the Columbia to the Missouri and Mississippi before side-tracking to the East Coast. After a year in Florida, they plan to follow the Lewis and Clark Trail back to the West Coast in 2004.

Canoeing for Cancer
Paddling for a cause reached new heights this summer as two canoeists set out to paddle from Temagami to Peterborough, Ontario, to raise funds for cancer. "This trip isn't only big because of the distance we're paddling, but because we've been busy fundraising and planning for it since last December," says team member Caroline Ruane. "All proceeds raised in southern Ontario will be donated to cancer support center Camp Trillium; funds from the north will be donated to Camp Quality, a cancer support center outside Thunder Bay." Communities visited include: Temagami, Sturgeon Falls, Parry Sound, Port Severn, Orillia and Kawartha Lakes. Along the way, the duo also challenged communities to organize events and fund-raisers to bring different types of people together. "The catch," says Ruane, "is that the events had to center around canoes." Info: canoeforcancer@hotmail.com.