Art Karts Huseonica is planning a big summer of 2024. He has confirmed plans to complete his delayed Yukon River expedition. Immediately after, he will join the Northwest Passage expedition to complete an ocean row of the Northwest Passage led by record holder rower Leven Brown of Scotland. It’s also known as The Expedition of Our Time. More details will be forthcoming. Meanwhile, here is the link to the Northwest Passage expedition: https://nwpexpedition.com/
As I look forward to 2024, I am reminded of my major disappointment in not completing my Yukon 2020 expedition to paddle the length of the Yukon River in 2023. Stopping short 100 miles/160km from the Bering Sea hit me hard mentally because I always finish what I start. My U.S. Coast Guard contact reminded me that, “It’s better to return home defeated than in a body bag.”
I have no immediate plans to return to the Yukon River in 2024 due to finances. I’m still paying off this year’s expedition costs. Ugh. I’ve certainly been invited to participate in numerous adventures and expeditions in 2024, but the monies simply aren’t there. I’ll still do regional hikes and mini-adventures solo and with a few select friends.
I’m staying very busy with training hikes, volunteering on various projects, and catching up on my reading. Subjects include adventures, biographies, and self-help books from eclectic authors. Refocusing on staying in touch with friends and family is helping to keep my mind off the Yukon. Of course, there is pressure from a lot of folks for me to write my memoirs. We’ll see.
Yukon River expedition Website: http://www.yukon2020.com
I will always greatly appreciate your support and encouragement. Be well my friends.
(August 27, 2023; Sun City, AZ, USA) The Whitehorse Star newspaper published a comprehensive article about Kart’s failure to reach the Bering Sea and set a record. You can read the article for free here. Journalist Morris Prokop has followed Karts’ adventure on the Yukon River for two years after his attempt last year was thwarted by 100-year flood event.
(March 21, 2023) Art “Karts” Huseonica is excited to announce that Melinda Land has joined the Yukon 2020™ team paddling from Carmacks to Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada. You can read all about Melinda for free without a subscription here.
(February 27, 2023; Sun City, AZ, USA) The kind folks at the Sun City INDEPENDENT newspaper recently published a feature news story about my upcoming Yukon River expediton. You can read it HERE for free without a subscription.
(February 9, 2023; Sun City, Arizona, USA) Art “Karts” Huseonica is excited that his reboot of Yukon 2020 is fast approaching. He plans to put-in on May 28th at Carmacks, Yukon Territory, Canada where he pulled out on June 21, 2022. He’ll be joined by guest paddlers, including Bruce Jobin and Melinda Land. Karts will have more about his special guest paddlers in the coming months leading up to the expedition.
Before he puts in, Karts will publish a GPS link so that you can follow his track and progress from Carmacks out to the Bering Sea. This track is part of the trilogy of proof required verify his adventure. Other required items of proof include documenting all eye witnesses and location selfies and videos.
Recently, Karts announced that he is going to dedicate his Yukon River expedition to his brother Joe Huseonica. On Christmas morning, the Huseonica family lost Joe. He was born in Lucerne Mines, Pennsylvania, USA in 1944 and has always provided enouragement and support for Karts.
Karts believes that Joe is going to be on the river with him, guiding and protecting him with every paddle stroke. The expedition canoe will have decals remembering Joe. In addition, all relevant YouTube videos and the expedition’s documentary film will be dedicated to him.
Fundraising continues as the reboot costs and inflation continue to ravage his original budget. Please visit: https://www.yukon2020.com/support
March 4, 2022, Sun City, AZ, USA) Members of several Yukon Territory First Nations will be padding segments of the Yukon River with Art “Karts” Huseonica this summer on his record-attempt Yukon River expedition. This aspect of the expedition will provide unique learning opportunities for Karts, ensure that he camps in indigenous territories with permission, and garner the respect of the First Nations. To learn more about this, here’s the LINK to a recent article describing this part of the expedition. The expedition is keeping its Yukon2020™ branding. The expediton is 2,020 miles long.
Updated January 6, 2022 (April 27, 2020, Arizona USA) The Yukon 2020™ team will be interacting with First Nation residents in the Yukon Territory of Canada. In Alaska, the team will be visiting select Alaska Natives’ fishing villages along the Yukon River.
In addition, Art “Karts” Huseonica will have indigenous peoples paddling with him for certain river segments. This has never been done before in modern recorded history. In some circles, it’s being referred to as The Kindness Expedition.
Karts of Sun City, Arizona USA is expected to be a good representative of a professional expedition. Besides being the right thing to do, it is in his character to be accepting of and learning about all peoples’ beliefs and way of life. He’s also sensitive to being respectful to a village leader’s decision whether or not to permit the team access to their village.
Mr. Huseonica will have already met with members of the Alaska Natives peoples and received helpful information and advice. The team will also coordinate visits with the village leaders far in advance of their anticipated arrival. Before starting their expedition on May 27, weather permitting, the team will meet with First Nation representatives in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory at the Council of Yukon First Nations headquarters.
They will seek from the First Nations representatives guidance about which villages to visit for the purposes of resting and making minimal resupply food purchases. Working in the other direction, Mr. Huseonica will make inquires into what items, within cost and bulk limitations they can bring with them that the villages might need.
In Alaska, the team will be working with the Alaskan state government and the Alaska Federation of Natives. As the team moves down the river they will be in satellite contact with community leaders. Contact will be determined through the prodigious use of the State of Alaska’s community database at the Community Online Database. Similar to the Yukon Territory villages, the team will make inquires into what items to bring that the villages are in desperate need of.
Except in villages, meeting people on the river will be relatively rare. When the opportunity does presents itself, interactions with others will be a unique opportunity to learn about the people and to share with them stories and information about the team’s expedition.
Mr. Huseonica will avoid interactions if he’s feeling ill or suspect others are sick. When he visits isolated towns or fishing villages, it will be impossible to avoid people so social distancing will be practiced if conditions at that time warrant it. The team will carry an amble supply of face masks, latex gloves, sanitary wipes, and hand sanitizer with them at all times.
At remote villages, the team will be an interesting distraction to residents, and most likely bring attention to themselves since they are strangers. The team has provided this Blog link to the Canadian government to help explain plans for interactions with First Nations peoples in the Yukon Territory. The link was also provided to the Council of Yukon First Nations. And also to the US State Department to demonstrate the team’s good-faith intentions regarding interactions with Alaska Natives. The team is also in communication with the Yukon Territory’s COVID-19 Enforement Information Team and the Yukon First Nations Culture and Tourism Association.
For more information about the Yukon 2020™ expedition or to donate or sponsor, obtain naming rights to the expedition’s custom canoe, please visit www.yukon2020.com.
(April 24, 2020; Arizona USA) The Yukon 2020™ team is excited to have outlined their plan to Leave No Trace on their expedition. They are expected to have a plan in place to demonstrate their commitment to conducting a comprehensive and professional expedition with regards to the environment. In these times of COVID-19, this is more important than ever.
Leave No Trace means that participants leave only their foot prints; in other words, minimal impact. This international program consists of seven principles: plan ahead and prepare; camp on durable surfaces, dispose of waste properly; take nothing; minimize campfire impact; respect wildlife; and be considerate of others. Art “Karts” Huseonica and Lauren “Lolo” Sherwood will remind each other to stay focused on the principles throughout their entire expedition.
This outline of Leave No Trace principles is part of the team’s planning and preparation process. Due to the length of the expedition in terms of time and distance, preparation is an all-consuming process. Leave No Trace is an important part of that process.
Considerable time will be allotted to finding suitable campsites each night that are durable for tents, cooking, and general camp life that will not leave a permanent reminder that they were there. This includes their fire pit areas. If they’re fortunate enough to find an old fire pit area, they will build their camp around that so as to avoid creating another fire pit area. Only drift wood will be burned; no trees will be cut down. If driftwood is not available, they will revert to using their small mountain stove.
Trash will be burned when feasible. Otherwise, it be packed up for proper disposal in villages if residents are agreeable to doing that. Having trash containers and room in their canoe is part of the planning and preparation step. Prior to the expedition’s start on June 4, Mr. Huseonica and Ms. Sherwood will eliminate as much plastic from their supplies as possible. They will never use any single-use plastics. The team expects to find trash along their 2,020-mile/3,250km journey and will pick up as much as they can manage and properly dispose of, especially near their camp sites.
Human waste will be disposed of in cat holes, at least six inches deep and located 200 feet/60 meters from camp or water sources. Toilet paper will be burned in the cat hole. When this is not feasible, the team will be carrying a supply of blue bags to store solid waste in and properly dispose of where appropriate.
Mr. Huseonica and Ms. Sherwood will take nothing from the environment such as archaeological or historical remains, rocks, or vegetation. They will not build cairns (small piles of rocks) as a reminder they’d passed through an area. Only their foot prints will be left behind.
Being respectful of wildlife means not feeding animals, killing them except for food as permitted and licensed, or harassing them in any way. The team will have to fish throughout their expedition in order to have sufficient food and get the protein necessary to keep them healthy and strong.
Meeting people on the river will be rare. When the opportunity presents itself, interacting with others will be a unique opportunity to learn about local residents and to 
share with them stories and information about the team’s expedition. Mr. Huseonica and Ms. Sherwood will avoid interactions if either one is feeling ill, or if they suspect others are sick. When they visit isolated river towns it will be impossible to avoid people. The team will carry a supply of face masks with them at all times.
At small, remote villages, the team will be an interesting distraction to residents, and most likely bring attention to themselves. The team will provide to the Canadian government their plan for interacting with First Nations peoples in the Yukon Territory. A similar plan will be provided to the US State Department for interactions with Alaska Natives. This plan will include how and when the team will contact village leaders prior to their arrival to discuss visitation and health protocols.
For more Yukon 2020™ expedition information, sponsorship opportunities, or to donate to the resupply costs, please visit the official Website.
(March 1, 2020) Danger will be ever-present during the Yukon 2020™ record-attempt expedition. This 2,020-mile (3,250 km) journey includes a myriad of situations that Art “Karts” Huseonica and Lauren “Lolo” Sherwood must be acutely aware of, including hypothermia, bears, mosquitoes, and people. The team is not afraid of any of these, but hold a respect for all and plan to manage their risks to successfully complete the adventure.
Except for a 1.2-mile portage, when the team puts in on June 4, they will be paddling the distance on lakes and a river that is fed by glacial melt and snow melt water. The cold water is their foremost danger. If they tip over, they have only a few minutes before their body’s temperature begins to drop below 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius). Once this happens, their bodies and minds will begin to slow down to the point of not being able to save themselves. After getting to shore, hopefully with their canoe and gear, they must immediately remove all their clothes, put on dry clothing, and then quickly start a fire to warm up their bodies.
Each will be carrying a water-proof emergency fire-starter kit, good for starting a fire even in inclement weather. Karts and Lolo are trained in CPR and wilderness first aid. Preparation and self-reliance will be key in such austere environments. There will be surprises, but it wouldn’t be an adventure without them.
Bears are certainly a possible problem. When making camp, the team must survey the area for recent bear signs such as paw prints and scat. After deciding on a camp site the team will secure all their food in air tight containers and avoid leaving any food scraps laying around camp. Black bears are the most common bear that the team will encounter. Grizzlies (brown bears) also frequent the team’s route.
Other preventive measures include good camp protocols, bear spray, and a gun (as a bear banger). The team will use these in that order of precedence. Supporting the team are the assets provided by a Globalstar systems satellite telephone and their SPOT X GPS tracking and SOS device (pictured). A link will be published so that everyone can track the team. Their SPOT device allows for text and email communications, and has an SOS feature.
Mosquitoes, also known as midges will certainly give Karts and Lolo discomfort during their expedition. They will be prepared with body mosquito netting, tent netting, and bug spray. Dangers include dengue virus from mosquitoes and Lyme disease from ticks. Also an unavoidable irritant on portions of their expedition will be black flies and biting midges, also known as no-see-ums. Black flies can cause black fly fever and blindness if left untreated.
Although people are Karts and Lolo’s least dangerous entity, the team is still aware of issues related to people along the river and in the fishing villages. Occasionally, adventurers are seen as easy targets of theft and other misdeeds. To provide extra 
measures of safety and security, the team will be ever-aware of their surroundings, be respectful of village residents and people on the river, and use personal security code words and signals. They recently met with an indigenous resident who briefed them on how to conduct themselves in remote villages.
Karts and Lolo are adventurous people up for the challenges, and not afraid of the known or the unknown. They know how to manage risks, assess situations, and have a plan in place to respond accordingly. This includes comprehensive expedition insurance. Of course, flexibility is an essential component of such a dangerous endeavor focused on a record-attempt. 
To help cover the enormous costs of such a complex expedition, interested folks can donate monies through the Yukon 2020™ team’s Fund Me page. A free t-shirt is given to those donating $30 or more. Or you can contact Karts through the Contact page on this Blog or via eMail at arthuseonica@gmail.com, phone USA 443-254-5730.
Those wishing to become tiered sponsors can check out the team’s Support page to see what matches the amount that you can give.
Arizonian Explorer 