Unpeeled Adventure 2022
Unpeeled Adventure – An epic adventure for 6 strangers deep into one of the last great untouched wildernesses on earth. Inspired by the Paddle For The North we will embark on a 1500km self-supported canoe journey, through the arctic circle and across international borders.
We will start in July 2022 at the head waters of the Hart river in Northern Canada finishing some 9 weeks later on the mighty Yukon river in central Alaska. The journey will include travelling the Hart, Peel, Rat, Bell, Porcupine and Yukon Rivers and incredible challenges of a 10km portage at Aberdeen Canyon on the Peel and a 140km upstream section of the Rat river to move from the River Peel to Yukon catchments.
Vision
The UnPeeled Adventure is a paddle along the rivers of North America for six British strangers, all with the same desire for wilderness. Over ten weeks the team will canoe, unsupported and entirely human-powered, 1500km along six rivers in search of unique wildlife, peaceful solitude and challenging adventure. Traversing two river basins, including a gruelling portage through dense bush and a 140km upstream scramble along the Rat river will take grit and determination. Luckily the team are united by a thirst for adventure.
Real Science
The team will be undertkaing survey work on the trip monitoring wildlife inlcuding mapping beaver territiories.
Whilst on the water we will document aquatic plastics through photographs and collection of basic information (brand, type, frequency etc). On land, we will use a standardised research protocol as laid out in the National Geographic Sea to Source Toolkit. Due to an inability to appropriately clean the necessary microplastics equipment and prevent contamination, we will focus on macroplastics using the Debris Tracker app – an open source tool for standardising the collection of such data, making results broadly comparable. At each camp location we will perform 3 x 100m georeferenced transects in teams of 2, recording any visible (above ground) plastic pollution in the app. We will be able to upload these data during two re-supply stops and see our contributions in real time via the Debris Tracker website – there are currently no recordings in this region.
Additionally Sophie (the Sleep Scientist) will be monitoring the teams sleep patterns and stress level as the expedition unfolds.
Live Tracking
We are taking a Garmin InReach device with us on our adventure. Using this we can regularly update our location. Once the expedition launches on July 1st you will be able to see our location here.
From June 22- 25th you can track Cory on the Yukon River Quest by following the dot on the map! This trip is the warm up to the Unpeeled Adventure.
Cory intends to return to the Yukon in 2023. Would you like to go?
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