MIDDLESEX COUNTY

Couple paddles 2,000 miles from Minnesota to D.C.

Cheryl Makin
@CherylMakin
  • Dave and Amy Freeman are traveling 2%2C000 miles by canoe in honor of 50th year of the Wilderness Act.
  • The couple%2C who started the trip in August%2C came ashore at the Raritan River on Wednesday afternoon.
  • They are paddling a route from their home state of Minnesota to Washington%2C D.C.
  • They will present the signed canoe to the president as a petition to stop sulfide mining.

NEW BRUNSWICK – Paddling with a purpose, Dave Freeman, 38, and Amy Freeman, 32, are more than three-quarters of the way through a 2,000-mile canoe journey to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. The couple landed on the shores of the Raritan River late Wednesday afternoon, having paddled a route from their home state of Minnesota to Washington, D.C.

Named National Geographic's Adventurers of the Year, the Freemans also took on this adventure to raise awareness of the dangers of proposed sulfide mining in Minnesota with this venture. Along the way, they have attended and hosted learning sessions and meet-ups when not on the water. Tuesday evening featured an event at Columbia University in New York and another at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware, on Thursday.

Additionally, they will present the canoe they travel in to President Barack Obama as a physical "canoe petition" to help protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from sulfide mining pollution. Between 1,200 and 1,400 have signed the canoe, either in Minnesota or during this journey. Dave Freeman said about 8,800 have added their names to an online petition.

"Our purpose is threefold — to celebrate the Wilderness Act, to learn about the waterways and forests and look for ways to help protect the planet," said Dave Freeman, who, along with his wife, heads The Wilderness Classroom, an online education center. "We have been able to reach thousands of people and talk about the trip, the mining, wilderness, our jobs and our way of life."

Paddling with a purpose, Dave Freeman, 38, and Amy Freeman, 32, landed on the shores of the Raritan River on Wednesday afternoon, having paddled along a route from their home state of Minnesota to Washington, D.C.

Thousands of elementary and middle school students use STEM-focused lessons to join the adventure and learn along with the Freemans through educational updates, video conferencing and a variety of activities designed to immerse students in the adventure to the nation's capital.

The Freemans were inspired to take on this journey after a visit to the Sustainable Ely Education and Action Center in their hometown of Ely, Minnesota, in the summer of 2013. They spied the signed canoe and accompanying exhibit concerning the negative impacts of sulfide ore mining — a type of mining never before allowed in the state — on the local economy, community and environment. The goal is to stop proposed sulfide ore mining in the area and permanently protect the watershed, Dave Freeman said.

"We live in northern Minnesota, at the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. When we went to the action center, we heard they intended to drive the canoe to Washington, D.C.," he said. "We suggested paddling it there. We thought it was a really neat idea, but a canoe's purpose is to be paddled. What better way to show what we are talking about than to paddle it there?"

After a year of planning, the two entered the water on Aug. 24. They intend to reach Washington, D.C., on Dec. 2. Not unfamiliar with day-to-day traveling by canoe, both wilderness educators took an even longer journey — 11,700 miles — from Seattle, Washington, up to the Arctic Ocean, down to Key West, Florida, beginning in 2010. That trip took three years and covered parts of the present route, including the Boundary Waters, parts of the Great Lakes region and New York.

"The majority of the trip is new," Dave Freeman said. "We had never been up the Raritan River or the Hudson. For the most part, the trip has been what we expected weatherwise. We have had cold and stormy days and really nice weather days. It's been very varied, but not unexpected."

As the journey is not a race, the Freemans take the time to view the scenery along the way. Some is beautiful, like the lower Hudson River valley near Cold Springs and West Point, and some not so much, like the upper Hudson River, where there is a great deal of dredging activity, Dave Freeman said.

Dave and Amy Freeman are more than three-quarters of the way through a 2,000-mile canoe journey to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act.

The Raritan River area reminded them of marshes with "all the cattails and big grasses" along its banks, he said.

"We stop, take pictures along the way, explore, talk to people," Dave Freeman said. "That's what it's all about. We will take any opportunity we can to tell people about the Boundary Waters."

While the couple typically stops paddling at sundown, there are nights when they find themselves still going after dark. For about 55 of the 85 days, the two bedded down at nearby campsites, but as they reached more urban areas, the Freemans have been welcomed by interested locals, such as New Brunswick resident Monica Orso.

"We have been meeting really friendly people," Dave Freeman said. "Members of paddling clubs and friends of friends have invited us to stay in their homes. That's a really fun part of the journey — we get to see new places and meet new people."

For more information, go to www.wildernessclassroom.com or savetheboundarywaters.org.

Staff Writer Cheryl Makin: 732-565-7256; cmakin@mycentraljersey.com