When: June 2007 - March 2008

Where: From the Puget Sound to the Bering Sea: a four thousand miles along the edge of the Pacific, by foot, raft, and skis. An expedition to explore and communicate the broad environmental issues facing this region.

What are we doing: Journey on the Wild Coast will be an unprecedented four-thousand-mile expedition along the northern edge of the Pacific Ocean, through some of the most rugged terrain in the world.  

No road or trail follows this steep and fragmented coastline. We'll be traveling through forests, between islands, around glaciers and across the tundra by foot, packraft and skis. No-one has done this before. 

We'll begin at our front door in the heart of urban Seattle and will pass through some of the most remote and wild places in North America, finishing at the first Aleutian island. This nine-month journey will take us through summer, fall and winter.

Why are we doing it?

This is a journey for the sake of the wilderness itself.

In these last wild corners of the world, the fate of much of the land is still being decided. Old growth forests still stand on the coast of southeast Alaska and northern British Columbia.

Salmon-filled rivers flow from glaciers to the sea, uninterrupted by bridges or dams. Vast expanses of tundra lie undisturbed by roads or mining. We are living in a time of increasing human population, increasing industrial growth and increasing awareness of our impact on the world.

We will be examining the key environmental issues that touch this coast: forests, salmon, resource extraction and global warming.

During this four thousand mile expedition, we will visit everything that exists on this coast.  We will walk through remote wilderness, small towns and bustling urban centers.  We will see places where development has been done well and places where it has been done badly. 

Our unique journey will provide a view as broad as the four-thousand-mile coast, with a depth that can only be achieved by traveling through it step-by-step. We hope this on-the-ground perspective will help us understand and communicate the threats facing this wild coast and help chart its sustainable future.

Who are we?

Erin McKittrick (from Seattle, WA) and Bretwood Higman (from Seldovia, AK), met as students at Carleton College and married a few years later. 

Over the past seven years they've wandered over 3000 miles through the remote wilderness of Alaska and seek to use their expeditions to help preserve the wilderness they love.

Follow their progress and send them some support at .....

http://www.groundtruthtrekking.org/blog/

www.truthtrekking.org/blog