After 480 days and 7,810km of paddling, 24-year-old Peter Frank has completed a canoe journey around most of the Great Loop the “wrong way.” Beginning and ending in Escanaba, Michigan, the U.S. adventurer dubbed the Pirate Paddler wrapped up his journey on October 20.
The Great Loop is a roughly 9,700km circuit through the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic coast. It’s typically traveled by cruise boats in a counter-clockwise direction.
That route follows prevailing currents and winds, making it the more logical choice. Frank chose instead to go clockwise, forcing him to paddle upstream for 3,472km.
Frank’s GPS tracks. The blue section depicts motorized transport. Map: Peter Frank
Frank began on Lake Michigan, paddling through the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal before descending the Hudson River to the Atlantic. From there, he followed the Intracoastal Waterway down the East Coast, navigating past the Carolinas and into Florida. He then crossed into the Gulf of Mexico, up the Mississippi River, and eventually back north to Michigan.
Small gap
He couldn’t quite close the loop under his own steam. Paddling against the current in on the Mississippi in Wisconsin this past August proved too much, due to floodwaters draining into the river. Reluctantly, he caught a car ride for 350km and started paddling again just north of St. Louis on the Illinois River. In 2022, Frank canoed that missing section of the Mississippi, so his complete loop has taken place over two separate journeys.
“It was physically impossible to cover 218 miles of the Mississippi upstream due to flooding rains in Wisconsin north of where I was,” he explained to ExplorersWeb. “That had also been tested by a long-time upstream canoe racer the week before…He reported it being impossible…It simply wasn’t the year; it required seasonal luck that I just didn’t have.”
Frank at the finish. Photo: Peter Frank
No official database of completions
Frank suggests he is the youngest person to complete a solo circumnavigation of the eastern United States, and the seventh person to have paddled the Great Loop, as well as the third to have done it clockwise, though there is no official database of completions. He describes his journey as solo, though he regularly met supporters en route, who offered provisions and, in some cases, an overnight stay.
At age 14, Frank was struck by a car while hiding in a leaf pile and was told he would never walk again. After a year and a half of recovery and physical therapy, he defied those odds. By 17, he had ridden a unicycle from Wisconsin to Arizona, raising money for the organization that supported his family during his recovery. That sparked a passion for long journeys that later led him to the canoe. Somewhat poetically, he completed this latest journey 10 years to the day after the car accident.
On Lake Michigan. Frank used a sail for assistance. Photo: Peter Frank
Hurricanes and headwinds
Frank’s journey was far from smooth. Over nearly a year and a half, he faced hurricanes, cold temperatures, headwinds, and even an alligator encounter in Florida that forced him to alter his route. When there were obstacles on the rivers or conditions were too rough on lakes, Frank portaged, dragging his canoe on small wheeled cart. On a recent day, he portaged 38km, and his total portaging reached 477km.
Portaging through Chicago. Photo: Peter Frank
“I came out here to challenge myself and test the limits on what’s possible,” Frank wrote in a social media post the day before completing the journey. “I didn’t do this for riches, fame, or attention, [but] for my personal growth as a human being.”
The Pirate Paddler
Frank’s distinctive pirate-like clothing, made from loose natural fibers, became a defining image of the expedition. What began as a playful idea quickly turned into a practical choice. Finding modern outdoor gear uncomfortable, he drew inspiration from the clothing of sailors of centuries past, whose garments were designed for constant exposure to the elements. The only part of the outfit chosen purely for fun, he admitted, was the pirate hat.
Frank in his pirate outfit. Photo: Peter Frank
Sticking to principles
Along the way, he turned down multiple sponsorship offers that clashed with his values, refusing to advertise or monetize his journey.
“All sponsors had donated equipment that I cherry-picked because I believed in their passions and what they stood for,” he wrote on social media. “I had been offered thousands of dollars to advertise crap to you that you don’t need.”
Paddling at night. Photo: Melrose Kempiak
That authenticity clearly resonated with his large online following, who watched his progress unfold in real time, although he remained skeptical about sharing the experience digitally.
“Social media can take away from that experience tremendously,” he wrote. “I wanted to give more than I took, and I hope that was the case.”
With the journey now complete, Frank plans to rest and write a book chronicling his journey in full detail.
“Carry in your heart what you took from it,” he told his followers. “Go outside, put your phone away, dress like a pirate, go, and live.”
