The wilderness adventurers and advocates Dave and Amy Freeman are underway in their latest effort to prevent mines from polluting the Boundary Waters. They are bicycling from the banks of the Kawishiwi River at the edge of the wilderness to the nation’s capital, pulling a canoe covered in signatures, and visiting local communities to talk about the wilderness and mining threats.
In 2014, the married couple canoed and sailed from Ely to D.C., and in 2015-2016, spent a full year inside the Boundary Waters, to “speak for the wilderness.” They were named National Geographic’s Adventurers of the Year in 2014 for completing a three-year crossing of the United States from Alaska to Florida.
Last year, they published a book about their Year in the Wilderness with Minnesota publisher Milkweed Editions.
For this expedition, the duo are once again working with the Save the Boundary Waters campaign to bring attention to threats from potential copper-nickel mines in the wilderness watershed. Their publisher, Milkweed, is also supporting the trip as a book tour.
“We’ll use this tour as a platform to inspire more citizens across the country—in both urban and rural communities—to take action and help protect the Boundary Waters,” Dave Freeman said.
They left Ely on April 20, after collecting water from the icy Kawishiwi River to carry to the capital. The pair plan to reach Washington by June 18. A Kickstarter fundraising campaign has reached $17,000 of their goal of $35,000 to fund lodging and other trip costs..
The Freemans plan to speak at more than 30 events along the 2,000-mile route through nine states. They will spread their message about the Boundary Waters, and invite people to sign the canoe.
After leaving Duluth yesterday, the couple are now on their way to the Twin Cities. They will speak in Mahtomedi at the White Bear Unitarian Universalist Church on Friday, April 27, and at several events over the weekend in Minneapolis. They will speak at the Midwest Mountaineering Spring Adventure Expo on Sunday morning.
Their route will then take them down the Mississippi River and into Wisconsin and beyond.