{"id":40115,"date":"2026-09-18T08:00:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T15:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/?p=40115"},"modified":"2026-09-15T11:49:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T18:49:17","slug":"headwaters-to-horizon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2026\/09\/18\/headwaters-to-horizon\/","title":{"rendered":"Headwaters to Horizon \u2013 Jack\u2019s Story and a Lesson in Geography"},"content":{"rendered":"

In fall 2026, Dartmouth College students Oscar Seltzer and Jack Syverson will undertake a self-supported, source-to-sea expedition of the Columbia River<\/a>, paddling over 2,000 kilometers from Canal Flats, British Columbia, to Astoria, Oregon, portaging 14 dams along the way.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Today, September 4th, 2026, Oscar and I, both undergraduates at Dartmouth College, will take a hiatus from our studies to launch our sea kayaks onto Lake Columbia at the headwaters of the Columbia River, not to see a proper bed again until we reach the Pacific Ocean, 1,200 miles and two months away.<\/span><\/p>\n

Oscar has been thinking about this trip for over two years, and I\u2019ve been thinking about it for over six months since he first asked me to join him. Don\u2019t worry, you\u2019ll hear more about Oscar and how he created his brainchild during our next Duct Tape Diary\u2014stay tuned. There <\/span>was, <\/span><\/i>however, one significant problem when I first agreed to join him: I didn\u2019t know how to paddle.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Okay, to claim that I didn\u2019t know how to paddle is a bit of a hyperbole. I had paddled everything from paddleboards to kayaks at least once, and I used to work renting small boats at a beach shack. However, the scariest river I\u2019d ever summoned the courage to tackle was the Stillwater River, which was\u2026 aptly named.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the past six months, I spent a lot of time between school and work getting taught everything I needed to know, either through Oscar himself, official certification classes, or on my own. This included everything from wilderness medicine to swiftwater rescue techniques to kayak rolls (AKA Oscar Waterboarding Me 101). A lot of this was done through Dartmouth College\u2019s Ledyard Canoe Club<\/a>, which provides a <\/span>lot<\/span><\/i> of opportunities for students to get on the water.<\/span><\/p>\n

I feel very prepared going into the expedition now, and most importantly I feel prepared to be unprepared.<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of the expedition, we are interviewing a diverse cast of characters who spend a significant portion of their lives with the Columbia and compiling the footage into a mini docuseries. Since I don\u2019t get to interview myself, I wanted to share a little bit about my connection to the Columbia, discuss its geography, and explain how it informed our trip. Please excuse my vanity.<\/span><\/p>\n