Salt Spring Island Women Paddling Inside Passage to Alaska

Leonie Mahlke and Rebecca Grim are paddling from Salt Spring Island, B.C., to Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska.

Their kayak journey will help them to listen and document voices of the Inside Passage, bringing awareness to why the area is so tremendously important and deserves to be protected.

Their kayak adventures started when a mutual friend took them out on the protected waters of the surrounding islands. Since then, they have gone on several short and long distance trips.

Through kayaking, they have become more aware of the various threats these waters are now facing: they have paddled past fish farms, masses of garbage and some of the large vessels that are frequently traveling through the fragile passages of the Inside Passage.

They have organized local shore garbage clean-ups, raised funds for the proper disposal of hazardous garbage, participated in events to support First Nations and worked for non-profits.

Paddling into Ketchikan was pretty intimidating! Surrounded by massive cruise ships, float planes taking off and whizzing fishing boats. Thank you to the smiling faces at @ketchikankayakco and for letting us leave our kayaks on their docks for the couple of days we were in town. It is so rad to roll up to a city like this and be greeted by friendly locals! We are off to Petersburg and out of service for the next week or so! Yahooo! #glacierbaybound2018

A post shared by Kayaking to Alaska in 2018 (@paddlingnorth) on Jul 27, 2018 at 5:22am PDT

They have launched from Salt Spring Island to paddle through the waterways of the Inside Passage, a network of passages stretching from northwestern Washington to southeast Alaska.

This partially protected coastline is one of the most uniquely raw and wild places in the world. Their trip will amounts to over 2,500 kilometres and will take four months.

“We intend to visit communities and research stations along the way to interview women, who are working towards the protection of the Inside Passage and are spearheading projects at the front lines.”

The past five days have been filled with waterfalls, long narrow passages and sunshine! We are currently in Hartley Bay for two nights before paddling up the long and slightly intimidating Grenville Channel of 55nm. #glacierbaybound2018

A post shared by Kayaking to Alaska in 2018 (@paddlingnorth) on Jul 11, 2018 at 7:34pm PDT