Peter Frank takes a break along his journey of the great loop. [Photo courtesy Peter Frank]

OKEECHOBEE- A 23-year-old Michigan man is in the process of completing a 6,000-mile circumnavigation of the eastern United States on canoe. Early in May, his journey saw him pass through Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee River.

Peter Frank started the journey back on June 27, 2024 in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Over the past year he’s canoed through Canada and down the east coast of the United States.  

The journey is hard enough on it’s own, but even more so because Peter is completing “The Great Loop” counterclockwise, meaning he has been going against the currents in many areas. The Great Loop is a historic, 6,000-mile waterway that traces a route from Canada through the U.S., including the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico.

Peter says he was inspired to push himself physically after suffering a traumatic injury in his teens that nearly left him paralyzed. Since then, he’s made multiple biking, backpacking and canoeing expeditions.

Peter cut through Florida at the St Lucie estuary and planned to head through Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee River. But has he approached Lake Okeechobee, concerns about alligators in the waters led him to portage along the Herbert Hoover Dike. Portage is when a traveler carries a boat between navigable waters.

Peter carried his canoe along the Herbet Hoover Dike until he reached the Caloosahatchee River. The portage around the lake took 29 hours over four days and Peter says he counted 400 gators in the lake and canals during his walk.

Peter carries his boat along the Herbert Hoover Dike. [Photo courtesy Peter Frank]

“The portage’s goal was to avoid the water between Pahokee and Moore Haven at all costs,” said Peter. “Being the water is low, and the alligators congregate along the rim canals as a result, and it being the peak of mating season, continuing by canoe would have meant high risk for me and anyone who would have come along.”

Peter’s trip through Lake Okeechobee came just a few weeks after a woman was killed on Lake Kissimmee by an alligator.

Peter arrived in Fort Myers on May 19, ready to continue his trip up through the Gulf of Mexico and up through the Mississippi River.