ANNAPOLIS, Maryland — Peter Frank paddled from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in June to Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay this month in his 1982 Sawyer Loon outfitted canoe, but he still has a long way to go.
The 23-year-old is about a quarter of the way to completing the Great Loop route on a journey of around 6,000 miles (9,656 kilometers). This continuous waterway includes a portion of the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal waterways, the Great Lakes, a portion of Canada’s Heritage Canals, and inland rivers in the United States.
For Frank, the trip is largely a way of expressing gratitude for being alive and having the ability to face a physical challenge nearly a decade after a car accident left him with 14 broken bones and a near-cripple. He was hiding in a pile of leaves hoping to surprise a friend when he drove by without knowing that a bunch of teenagers were there.
“It’s my way of showing my appreciation for being alive and walking and doing the things I can do,” he said during a break in Annapolis, Maryland, earlier this month, a day before he set off again.
He also likes to write about his experiences his blog and meet people along the way.
“I’m grateful to be here and share this story,” says Frank. “In a way, I feel like I have a responsibility to document the things I experience for people who don’t experience them or dream of experiencing them. That’s why it’s important to me.”
Dressed in a rabbit fur hat and pirate-style clothing, he typically spends six to 10 hours a day rowing the 1982 ship, with its shell emptied to store supplies. Many nights, he sleeps in a tent by the water. However, she often receives invitations to stay at the homes of her blog readers.
To keep warm, he’s taken a heavy down coat from the 1970s, an ultra-light Patagonia jacket he found at a thrift store, 1950s German military cold-weather towels, a set of thermal warmers and several wool socks. Recently, when she felt undressed, she designed and sewed her own pants, layering them over cotton flannel for extra layers.
It carries 10 portable power banks, plus cables and plugs. He says his electronics bag alone, which only holds the batteries and cables, weighs nearly 25 lbs.
“I find 10 is a good number and will keep my GPS, radio, camera and phone battery charged in any situation,” he says. “I also carry a solar panel as a backup and can charge almost anything I need.”
He doesn’t carry much for self-defense: just a small fish knife and a rope-cutting pocket knife. Frank says he’s confident in his ability to protect himself, such as being careful in bear country, hoarding food or simply avoiding populated areas.
“In the long run, it’s never been a big concern, and anything that’s out of my control isn’t something I can prevent with anything I can carry with me,” he says.
The Eagle Scout, who still visits his hometown with a local scout troop, has prepared a generous portion of his food for the long adventure. He dehydrated game and beef in the oven and vacuum sealed them for the ride.
Frank earns some income by writing about his experience. Her blog helps her pay her food bills through her “Rotisserie Chicken Fund” where people can click to send her money.
“Once in a while, someone will send me $20 online, which helps a lot with food and other things, but in the meantime, I also write for magazines, and the magazines will publish my work,” she says.
Frank has traveled long distances by bicycle, unicycle and canoe. For example, he has already explored Florida by canoe, which took about 11 months, ending in May 2023. That’s an important part of what he’s trying to do now. He knows he will eventually tie his canoe to the mangroves for a sleepover.
“I really, really enjoy them,” Frank says adventurously. “Most of all I like to be alive, so I think that for me these expeditions are not only my university and my education, but also my way of worship. a way of thanking the world for being alive and being able to walk.”
The Great Loop is his most difficult ride yet. While the trip is a bucket-list route for avid boaters, it’s rarely done when out-muscling a canoe.
Frank also rides clockwise, which he says is a tougher route because he paddles against the current on inland rivers for more than 25% of the trip.
Frank started his journey on June 27 in Escanaba, Michigan, where he is from. He rowed to Canada and crossed Lake Ontario, where he camped on the islands. Heading south, he passed through New York City, floating past the Statue of Liberty.
Although the route of the Great Loop has been given a long study, not everything is perfectly mapped out for canoeists. He says that he had to search for the way on his own.
Leaving New York, he took the Delaware and Raritan Canal, using portages he says he discovered on his own that were not mentioned in the route maps he had seen before. Frank says he hopes to write an informational guide to fill in some of the gaps in trail details. He is also thinking of writing an autobiography.
“I would like to put together something that is purely educational, that would be a guide, and then I would like to put together something that is like the story of a young man who finds himself in a world that he doesn’t fully understand. anyway,” says Frank.
He lived with his parents before he started traveling, when he left the United States to unicycle at the age of 19.
“Sometimes I’ll come back and visit for a couple of months between expeditions, but for the last three years I’ve been traveling full-time,” he says.
Everything he has is in his canoe.
He says he doesn’t need a lot of money to keep going.
“Contrary to what most people think, it’s not terribly expensive to travel, especially when you take out airfare, gas, assets, and accommodations like hotels and restaurants,” he says.
He’s never had a lot of money, and has done previous expeditions with less than $1,000.
“Is this convenient or practical? Not at all, but through the struggle to follow my dreams with little, I have developed the ability to enjoy less, and as a result, I live well with little,” he says.
He also describes the trip as a journey of self-discovery.
“It is very difficult to imagine where I will be three years from now, because I am still young and growing, but I hope that on this journey, this very long journey of self-discovery, maybe I will find that,” he says.
He estimates that it will take about 17 months to complete the loop. He says it will have to be finished by next November, due to the natural deadline set by the freezing of the lakes he will have to cross.
“I would say nature is definitely my biggest competitor,” says Frank.
