ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Peter Frank paddled his 1982 Sawyer Loon canoe from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay this month, but he still has a long way to go.
The 23-year-old is about a quarter of the way into his planned journey of approximately 9,656 kilometers to complete the Great Loop route. This continuous watercourse includes part of the intracoastal waterways of the Atlantic and Gulf, the Great Lakes, part of the Canadian Heritage Canals, and the rivers of the inland US.
For Frank, the trip is largely a way to express his gratitude that he is still alive and has the opportunity to take on the physical challenge, almost a decade after a car accident left him with fourteen broken bones and near paralysis. He had hidden in a pile of leaves to surprise a friend when a carload of teenagers drove through the pile without knowing he was there.
“It’s my form of showing appreciation for the fact that I’m alive and that I can walk and do the things that I can do,” he said earlier this month during a break in Annapolis, Maryland, a day before he leaves again.
He also likes to write about his experiences his blog and meeting people along the way.
“I am grateful to be here and to be able to share this story,” says Frank. “In a way, I feel I have a responsibility to document the things I experience for people who can’t experience them or who dream of experiencing them. That’s why it’s important to me.”
Dressed in a rabbit fur hat and clothing he has made himself to resemble a pirate, he typically paddles between six and 10 hours a day in his 1982 ship, the hull of which has been hollowed out to store supplies. Many nights he sleeps in a tent by the water. However, he often receives invitations from readers of his blog to stay at their homes.
To stay warm, he brought a heavy down jacket from the 1970s, an ultralight Patagonia jacket he found at a thrift store, German military cold-weather mittens from the 1950s, a set of warm thermals and several wool socks. Recently, feeling underdressed, he designed and sewed his own pants, quilting them over cotton flannel for extra layering.
He carries ten portable power banks, plus cords and sockets. He says his electronics bag alone, with just batteries and cords, weighs almost 25 pounds.
“I think 10 is a good amount and I can stay charged in any situation with my GPS, radio, cameras and phone battery,” he says. “I also carry a solar panel as a backup and can charge almost everything I need.”
He doesn’t carry much for self-defense: just a small fillet knife for fish and a pocket knife for cutting rope. Frank says he is confident in his ability to protect himself, whether by being observant in bear country, capturing food or simply avoiding populated areas.
“It’s never been a big problem in the long run, and anything that’s out of my control, I can’t avoid with something that I can take with me,” he says.
The Eagle Scout, who is still visiting with a local scout troop in his hometown, has prepared a hearty portion of his food for the long adventure. He dehydrated the venison and ground beef in an oven and sealed the vacuum for the trek.
Frank earns some income by writing about his experiences. His blog also helps him pay grocery bills through his “Rotisserie Chicken Fund,” where people can click to send him money.
“Every now and then someone will send me $20 online, which helps a lot for things like food and stuff, but in the meantime I also write for magazines, and the magazines will publish my work,” he says.
Frank has often traveled long distances by bicycle, unicycle and canoe. For example, he’s already explored Florida by canoe, which took him about eleven months and ended in May 2023. That’s a significant part of what he’s trying to do now. He knows he will eventually tie his canoe to the mangroves during a sleepover.
“I really enjoy it,” says Frank about the adventures. “I enjoy life more than anything, and so I think for me these expeditions are not only my study and training, but also my form of worship in life. In a way I thank the world for being alive and walking.”
The Great Loop is his most challenging tour yet. Although the trip is a bucket list route for avid boaters, it is rarely done with reliance on a canoe.
Frank also sails clockwise, which he says is the more difficult route because he spends more than 25% of the journey paddling against the current on the inland rivers.
Frank launched his journey on June 27 in Escanaba, Michigan, where he is from. He paddled into Canada and crossed Lake Ontario, where he camped on islands. On his way south he passed through New York City, floating past the Statue of Liberty.
Although he has studied the Great Loop route extensively, not everything is perfectly mapped out for the canoeist. He says he had to do some signage himself.
When he left New York, he took the Delaware and Raritan Canal, using portages that he said he found himself and that were not listed in the route plans he had previously seen. Frank says he hopes to write an information guide to fill in some of the gaps about the details of the route. He is also thinking of writing an autobiography.
“I would like to put together something that is purely educational and would serve as 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 quite understand. not yet,” says Frank.
He lived with his parents before he started traveling when he left home at the age of 19 to cycle across the United States for charity.
“I sometimes go back for a few months between expeditions, but for the past three years I’ve only been traveling full-time,” he says.
Everything he owns is in his canoe.
He says he doesn’t need a lot of money to keep flowing.
“Contrary to what most people think, traveling doesn’t cost a huge amount, especially when you eliminate airfare, gas, belongings and accommodations like hotels and restaurants,” he says.
He has never had much money and has done previous expeditions with less than a thousand dollars.
“Is this comfortable or practical? Absolutely not, but through the struggle to follow my dreams with little to nothing, I have developed the ability to enjoy less, and as a result, I can live well with little,” he says.
He also describes the journey as a journey of self-discovery.
“It is very difficult to imagine where I will be in three years because I am still young and growing, but I hope that on this journey, this very long journey of self-discovery, maybe I will discover that, he says.
He estimates it will take about seventeen months to complete the cycle. He will have to complete it by November next year, he says, because of a natural deadline set by the freezing of the lakes he must cross.
“I would say nature is definitely my biggest competition,” says Frank.