Every spring, hopeful adventurers dust off their paddles and plan ambitious routes. From legendary paddlers taking on trips of epic proportions to newer paddlers chasing Fastest Known Paddles, here are seven expeditions to follow this summer.
Missouri River Speed Attempt
In June 2026, four paddlers will tackle the 2,341 miles of the Missouri River in a Fastest Known Paddle attempt. The existing speed record is 33 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes. The team is made up of Scott Miller, Scott Duffus, Lada Zednik and Curt Leitz as primary paddlers with Ed Wagner as a back up paddler. The mission also includes a robust support team, and all four paddlers were involved in the 2023 Mississippi Guinness World Record for speed.
The route along the Missouri spans from Three Forks, Montana to St. Louis, Missouri. Follow along on Facebook.
Will Steger is on an 800 mile spring thaw expedition
At age 81, Will Steger is out on a solo expedition across the top of the North American continent, tackling 800 miles of spring breakup conditions with a seven-foot, eight-pound whitewater raft, alone.
Steger is sending out daily audio dispatches from the expedition. Take a listen to what’s happening in the tundra today, provided by the Steger Center.
Dale Sanders tackles the second half of his Appalachian Trail age record
Paddling legend Dale “Greybeard” Sanders has paddled the Mississippi from its headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico twice and holds the age record for doing so. Now in 2026 Sanders has set off on the second half of his thru-hike of the Appalachian trail to reclaim his age record for the popular long trail at age 90.
Sanders began his trek on September 6, 2025 heading southbound from Harper’s Ferry West Virginia toward Springer Mountain, Georgia. He then took a short break for the winter before flipping, and hiking north from Harpers Ferry to Mount Katahdin.
Follow the adventure at Grey Beard Team USA Appalachian Trail on Facebook.
Justine Curgenven and Jean-François Marleau to circumnavigate Iceland
Expedition paddler and filmmaker Justine Curgenven and Jean-François Marleau have set out on a 2500km circumnavigation of Iceland, clockwise. For Curgenven, this is a return to Iceland after having visited the island’s west fjords 25 years ago during a solo trip and promising to return.
The journey promises strong currents, challenging surf beaches and sneaker waves, brutal wind and of course, some of the most stunning coastline the Atlantic has to offer. According to Curgenven’s blog, she was even warned to mark her kayaks’ location by GPS as they might get buried in by the strong winds and sand storms.
Read Curgenven’s blog about the journey, or follow the journey on Facebook.
Ireland Circumnavigation Speed Attempt
Juliana Brotzman and Nate Gueltzau have departed to begin an ambitious speed attempt to circumnavigate the island of Ireland. The pair also aims to raise funds and awareness for Team River Runner, an organization supporting veterans and service members through adaptive paddling.
The team aims to paddle 1,100 miles of paddling over 15-22 days, or a minimum of 50 miles a day to meet their goal. Brotzman and Gueltzau will be accompanied by a support crew for logistics, resupply and emergency coordination. Ireland By Paddle lists Brotzman’s experience as including several solo travel cross country trips to hike, backpack, paddle and work and Gueltzau’s paddling resume includes long distance kayak expeditions including the Missouri River 340, Alabama 650 and Suwannee River 230.
The previous Ireland circumnavigation record holder Mick O’Meara completed the 930 miles in 23 days, paddling into fierce headwinds; of five other pairs of kayakers who set out at the same time as O’Meara, two of the five abandoned or postponed their trip according to the Irish Times. At the time of securing the speed record, O’Meara already held the speed record for crossing the Irish Sea with paddler Brian Fanning.
Follow the adventure at Operation Emerald Isle on Facebook.
Freya Hoffmeister continues North America circumnavigation
Perhaps the most legendary sea kayaker of all time, Freya Hoffmeister began her journey to circumnavigate North America by sea kayak in 2017. North America will be Hoffmeister’s third continent circumnavigation, and she estimates it will take 10-12 years, paddling in blocks of about three months twice a year.
Hoffmeister is no stranger to circumnavigating continents. The paddling legend paddled around Australia in 11 months, South America in 30 months and is now onto “the North Island” and will be heading north to Nain, Labrador in summer 2026.
Follow Hoffmeister’s expedition at her website.
Canada By Canoe
Will Vyse, Nolan Aziz, and Georges Kirijian are paddling from Tadoussac, Quebec to Prince Rupert, British Columbia in a coast to coast journey. All three paddlers are 24 years old, but have worked as professional canoe guides since 2019 and had a cumulative 888 days of canoe tripping experience between them going into this most recent expedition.
The paddlers expect the journey to take 200 days, and their mission in part is to raise money for True North Aid, an organization which provides practical humanitarian support to northern and remote Indigenous communities in Canada..
Follow the Canada By Canoe tracker.
From left to right: The Missouri Speed Record team trains, Dale “Greybeard” Sanders on the Appalachian Trail, Team Canada by Canoe breaks ice. Feature Image: Facebook | Missouri Speed Record, Greybeard Team USA Appalachian Trail, Canada By Canoe.
