2:30 PM. They made it, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Call from Dan saying they have paddled into the Chicago River. They are at the Michigan Avenue bridge with all sorts of water traffic around them. Toby's Tracker says 504miles. Mike Smith with friend Darlene Lyons and Coach Hoff are there too. They are paddling in a sort of parade up the Chicago Canyon. Mike, who paddled through it in 1992 after his solo trip from the headwaters of the Missouri River, says it's awesome. Dan agrees. A Chicago Tribune reporter is trying to cover them thanks to Neil Miller.
Dan said they have toasted Verlen and they are going to toast me too. I'm honored.
The Intrepid 3 took 17 paddle days to make it from Detroit to Chicago. The Hugh Heward party took 26 paddle days to make the trip in 1790, 48 days overall.
Our congratulations to the Intrepid 3, Mark Przedwojewski of Irons, the builder of Kruger Canoes; Dan Smith of Portland, Chairman of the Verlen Kruger Memorial Association; and Michigan native Toby Nipper, of Ft. Myers, Florida, long-distance canoeist extraordinaire.
(Photo thanks to Google images)
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