National Geographic has announced the 2014 Adventurers of the Year, whose extraordinary achievements in exploration, adventure sports, conservation or humanitarianism have distinguished them in the past year.

The only kayakers amongst this year’s 13 honorees are Amy and Dave Freeman, founders of Wilderness Classroom, who completed a three-year, 11,700-mile journey by kayak, canoe, dogsled and foot around North America in April 2013. The trip, dubbed the North American Odyssey, was just the latest expedition undertaken by the Minnesota couple for the Wilderness Classroom Organization (WCO), a non-profit that creates curriculum for some 85,000 grade school children via its website and school assemblies.

Online voting for the People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year is now open and runs through Jan. 31, 2014. To learn more about each adventurer through photos, interviews and a video and to vote every day for the People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year, go to http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventurers-of-the-year/2014/. The adventurer with the most votes at the end of the voting period will be announced in February as the 2014 People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year.

Read more about the Freeman’s North American Odyssey in the Summer/Fall 2013 issue of Adventure Kayak

 Buried deep under the waters of Summersville Lake since the Gauley River was dammed in the 1960s, the Lost Gauley is a section of the river that only resurfaces about once a decade.

“The dam has to lower the lake to inspect or work on the damn dam,” says Dave Fusilli of Demshitz, who ran West Virginia’s elusive Lost Gauley last weekend during one of those rare opportunities.

With three other paddlers, Fusilli did a 20 mile run ending at the Summersville Dam, where the famous Upper Gauley River begins. The Lost section began with class II to III rapids in the section that’s usually underwater. “This would be the start of paddling 150 feet lower than usual,” says Fusilli. “We could see silt and really cool layering in the silt on the banks of the river. This section reminded me of the last day of the Grand Canyon.”

Watch Fusilli’s video of the Lost Gauley here: 

Adventure educators Dave and Amy Freeman have been nominated as one of National Geographic’s 2014 Adventurers of the Year. The two canoed, kayaked, hiked and dog sledded just under 12,000 miles over three years in a bid to bring environmental awareness and education to school children. Their route took them through Inside Passage, across the Northwest Territories, through the Great Lakes, and down the East Coast of the U.S. Their epic journey ended early this spring. 

Their project, titled The North American Odyssey, was interactive and involved visiting schools and hosting assemblies along their route. Students could also track their progress online through their website. It’s estimated that their project reached a total of 85,000 kids. 

See Canoeroots’  Early Summer 2012 feature on Dave and Amy’s adventure in the feature story “School’s Out” here. 

You can also visit the National Geographic Adventurers of the Year web page to learn more and, while you’re there, vote to make Dave and Amy the People’s Choice.