Month: August 2021

Oregon man canoeing across country makes a stop in Pittsburgh

On By Neal MooreIn In the News, Wanderlust1 Comment

THE PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE

By JOANNE KLIMOVICH HARROP

Neal Moore is traveling 7,500 miles from Oregon to New York City — in a canoe.

He will cross 22 bodies of water, two of those in Pittsburgh — the Ohio and the Allegheny rivers.

As of Thursday, he had traveled 6,600 miles to date. His goal is to document America from the water.

Moore paddled 890 miles on the Ohio, averaging two miles an hour. He arrived Wednesday and plans to leave here on Monday and travel the Allegheny.

“Yes, it’s a little bit crazy,” said Moore on Thursday as he stood under the Roberto Clemente Bridge on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. “The view here is spectacular from this vantage point.”

He said Pittsburgh’s rivers appear to be cleaner than they used to be.

“I want to experience my home country and experience it by seeing so many parts of it up close and personal,” he said.

He said exploring the waterways will give him the opportunity to connect with the people across the country in a unique way.

“Your body adapts to the river,” said Moore who will turn 50 on the trip by the time he finishes at the Statue of Liberty. “I feel like I am in the best shape of my life.”

Moore was raised in Los Angeles but moved to Africa as a teenager where he lived for three decades before returning to the states. People can follow his journey on Instagram.

He has packages sent to various parts of the country to people he has connected with –called River Angels. Items he made need such as a wet suit will be waiting in Buffalo, N.Y. when he gets there.

He eats freeze dried food and drinks lots of water. He said there have been times other boaters have offered him an ice cold beer or pop and “it’s wonderful.”

He doesn’t own a home and sells African art to make money. He has a cell phone and marine radio. He doesn’t have any family. His brother died when Moore was 13. His mom died when he was 19. He said he didn’t have a relationship with his father who died in 2012.

Moore began the journey on Feb. 9, 2020. Moore barely made it out of Oregon 30 minutes before the governor locked down the state because of the coronavirus. There was a nine-day stretch where he didn’t see anyone.

“It was surreal,” he said. “I could have sheltered in place because of the pandemic but for me sheltering in place was canoeing on the water.”

The plan is to dock by mid-December where he hopes to paddle around the Statue of Liberty. Along the way, he has stayed in hotels, camped and with others such as Trish Howison of McCandless, an avid kayaker who heard of Moore’s travels when she was on a trip from the Ohio River to Louisville. She invited him to stay with her.

“Complete strangers will help you out,” she said. “It’s about paying it forward. I love being on the water and I will follow his journey the rest of the way. This is in his blood.”

A kayak would travel faster but Moore likes the analogy of the open canoe. He said it was an early mode of water transportation. He paid $650 for his canoe which weighs 60 pounds and is 16 feet long. He uses paper navigation charts as well as Google maps.

Moore wears muck boots, shorts, a T-shirt, baseball cap and a personal flotation device.

People he meets along the way write messages in the vessel.

“Canoeing I have to endure everything that nature throws at me,” Moore said. “And I have been through hell and high water in it. When it turns the river can become wicked you have to be cautious and know how to read the water. I respect the water.”

New York seemed like the perfect place to end the journey.

“I chose to end at the Statue of Liberty because her hand is extended to every American,” Moore said. “We as Americans know if we fall we have the strength to get back up. I want to find what unites us. Because we all know what divides us. “

Traveling Through Appalachian Rivers By Canoes And Coal Barges

On By Neal MooreIn In the News, Status Update, Wanderlust3 Comments

INSIDE APPALACHIA

West Virginia Public Radio

View from along the Ohio River, headed toward Pittsburgh, entering the Willow Island Locks & Dam. Courtesy Neal Moore

This week’s episode of Inside Appalachia is all about how we interact with water and our rivers. We’ll hear from people who make their living on the water — like Marvin L. Wooten, a longtime river boat captain. He started working in the riverboat industry in 1979. “I got two job offers the same day, and I took this job,” Wooten said. “My dad always said the river will always be there. So that’s what I’ve chosen to make my living at.”

And we’ll meet Neal Moore, who’s been canoeing for 17 months, on a journey that will cover 7,500 miles coast to coast. Moore hopes to wrap up his 22-month-long trip this December at the Statue of Liberty in New York. Recently, he made his way into Appalachia. “For many days, I’m in the canoe from from first light until last light,” Moore told Inside Appalachia producer Roxy Todd on a recent stop along the Kanawha River in Charleston, West Virginia.

“I sort of have to find my landlubber legs when I when I step onto a dock like this at times. But for the most part, I actually feel pretty strong,” Moore said.

‘From sea to shining sea’ via canoe

On By Neal MooreIn In the NewsLeave a comment

The Daily Sentinel

By Brittany Hively

Canoiest Neal Moore plans to circle Liberty Island in December. He set off from Point Pleasant’s Riverfront Park to continue his journey Tuesday morning. Brittany Hively | Courtesy

POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — For the last year and a half, adventurer and canoeist, Neal Moore has turned the lyrics “from sea to shining sea” into a life journey.

Moore set out in February 2020 to explore the United States from Astoria, Oregon to Lady Liberty in New York, crossing 22 states and 22 rivers. The interesting part, he is traveling by canoe.

“The big idea was to connect the rivers from sea to shining sea, from coast to coast, with the Statue of Liberty as the end game,” Moore said.

Moore moved to Africa as a teenager and spent several years in Asia, inspiring his journey to explore his home country more. He is originally from Los Angeles, Calif.

“I’ve been an expatriate for most of my life. The big idea was to come back to my home country and to really see it and really experience it up close and personal,” Moore said

Moore has been stopping in small river-towns across America during his journey. Stopping in Point Pleasant earlier this week, he said there is about 1,200 of the 7,500-mile trip left.

“Most days, I launch out at first light and paddle until last light. So, you have the hour after the sun goes down to make camp,” Moore said. “I’m looking for towns and looking for places to make camp.”

Islands, RV parks, a few host families and the occasional hotel stay has been Moore’s way of life for the last 18 months.

“It’s turned into about 10 nights of camping wild and one night with a host family or a hotel or an Airbnb or a RV park,” Moore said.

Moore said he looks forward to the home-cooked meals often offered by host families as they are “too good for words.”

With no tracking or GPS devices and little phone usage, Moore said part of the plan was to really see America without the interference of constant availability. All his worldly belongings are what fits on the canoe, aside from a few resupply boxes along the way.

Neal Moore prepares to pack his gear into his canoe at Riverfront Park Tuesday. Moore set out in February 2020 to explore the United States from Astoria, Oregon to Lady Liberty in New York, crossing 22 states and 22 rivers. Brittany Hively | Courtesy

“When you push yourself out into nature, it’s really a great thing. Water itself it’s a stabilizing experience, I think,” Moore said. “On a journey like this, when you push yourself out into the water and into the wildness and you have the wildness all around you and it’s just you and nature, it’s an incredible feeling. You’re embraced by the wildness and by being in the wild, you have embraced the wildness inside of ourselves as well, which can be scary but a really great experience.”

While navigation is important, Moore must be constantly aware of the weather and any impending storms.

“A couple of side trips, one was up the Kentucky River to see the capitol, Frankfurt, and this other one was to come up the Kanawha River to see Charleston, which I was able to do,” Moore said. “When I was on my up the Kentucky, they only operate those dams on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I was setup on Friday morning, continued forward. The second dam was about 30 miles in, so I wasn’t going to make that before dark. As I was paddling up, I just have a couple of new apps on my phone and one of them gave me a warning – flash flood warning. And then right at dark came the second warning which was extreme lightning storm.”

Moore said he could see the storm moving in from the Ohio area into Kentucky and knew he needed to get to the highest ground.

“I found a spot that was just ridiculously high after dark. It was sandy. It’s a really muddy river, just beautiful – wild and natural and muddy,” Moore said. “So, I sort of, climbed up to this ledge with the sand up there and it was so high up. I grabbed all my stuff; I could see the storm coming but it was a dry lightning storm to start with.”

After a quick debate on taking his canoe up the hill, Moore decided it was best not to leave it. Carrying all his possessions and the canoe to high ground, he was able to make camp and rest.

“I slept like a baby,” Moore said. “The next morning when I woke up, I opened the front [tent] and the water was right there. It had come up about 10 feet.”

After speaking with one of the dam operators, Moore learned about more expected flooding and headed back to the Ohio, but not before meeting some locals.

“As I was starting the portage of that last dam before the Ohio these two local guys, they looked like fisherman,” Moore said. “They were whooping and hollering up on the hill, and then high-fiving each other.”

The men thought Moore had found their lost canoe.

“These are local guys who know the area, they had been on the river camping just below where I was, they lost their canoe, they lost all their gear. They had a spot device and they hit SOS, so they were rescued by emergency services.”

Adventurer and canoeist, Neal Moore, departs Riverfront Park in Point Pleasant earlier this week. He is canoing across the country. Brittany Hively | Courtesy

This is Moore’s second attempt at the journey. During the first one, his canoe flipped in rapid, frigid waters after turning and being blocked by two large, downed trees.

“The natural environment, she can be beautiful, but she can be wicked at the same time,” Moore said.

Moore has a marine radio to communicate with towboats and said his job is to stay out of their way. He also must stay aware of all obstacles – logs, debris, trash, etc. – that could be in the way.

If completed, Moore will be the first to complete this adventure.

“It’s been done from east coast to west coast, specifically in a canoe, solo and continuous. It has not been done from west coast to east coast,” Moore said.

Moore said his journey along the rivers and river-towns, many the first towns, connects the then and now.

“What I’m trying to do is to see how the rivers and waterways connect across the country, but also to look for and document how we as a people connect… looking for the threads of our common humanity and what it means to be an American,” Moore said. “By the time I get to the beacon hand of the Statue of Liberty I will, in my mind, earned that view from the American side, from the American experience to see where a lot of us had started off back in the day.”

Americans know what divides, Moore said he wanted to highlight what brings them together.

“I think a truism with humanity anywhere in the world you are, when times are tough, this is when we as a people roll up our sleeves and this is when we look out for each other. Families come together and communities can come together as well,” Moore said.

When needed waterways are closed Moore walks, pulling his canoe on wheels. He recently learned he will need to do this for the last 135 miles before reaching Syracuse, New York.

Moore plans to circle Liberty Island in December. He set off from Point Pleasant’s Riverfront Park to continue his journey Tuesday morning with one goal.

“From sea to shining sea to really see and experience and highlight and underscore the positive of where we’ve got ourselves off to and what has come of us as Americans,” Moore said.

© 2021 Ohio Valley Publishing, all rights reserved.

Cross-country canoeist visits Huntington

On By Neal MooreIn In the News2 Comments

By SARAH INGRAM HD Media

THE HERALD-DISPATCH

Canoeist and outdoor adventurer Neal Moore paddles up the Ohio River outside of Harris Riverfront Park on Monday, July 19, 2021, in Huntington. Moore is currently traveling through the area as part of a 7,500 mile journey across America, which began in Astoria, Oregon on February 9, 2020. Photo by Ryan Fischer – The Herald-Dispatch.

HUNTINGTON — A canoeist traveling from Oregon to New York stopped in Huntington on Monday evening on his journey to learn about American culture and history.

Neal Moore began traveling through the country in February 2020 with the goal of reaching the Statue of Liberty by New Year’s Eve 2021. Entering Huntington by stopping at Harris Riverfront Park was the first time he has visited West Virginia, he said.

“I’ve been excited about West Virginia from the very beginning,” Moore said. “A big reason for this journey for me is to try to explore my own backyard, to come back to my home country and see places I haven’t been before, and this is my first time to the Appalachian plateau.”

Photo by Ryan Fischer – The Herald-Dispatch

Moore is at about 6,000 miles so far of the total 7,500 miles, and his trip entails traveling 22 rivers and touching 22 different states. He planned out about 100 towns and cities to visit before beginning his trip, but he has stopped in unplanned areas as well, he said.

Moore said the goal of the trip is to learn more about American history from the people who live here. From rural communities to bustling cities, Moore said he has enjoyed his time learning about people’s lives and has stumbled upon great stories in towns he did not originally plan to visit.

With plans to stay in Huntington for a few days, Moore said he hopes to learn about the culture that surrounds the town. After Huntington, he plans to visit Point Pleasant and Charleston, and he said he is excited to see the state’s capital.

Photo by Ryan Fischer – The Herald-Dispatch

“I’m just looking forward to sampling the local cuisine and learning some of the history and the culture and really the rich heritage,” he said. “What I’ve seen so far coming up this river between Kentucky and Ohio is sort of the Appalachian experience in motion over the years, that migratory nation but also the sense of community and sense of pride as well.”

Having started his journey just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic escalated in the United States, Moore said he had to consider returning home and what his safest options would be if he continued. Since he had already attempted the trip in 2018, Moore said he was determined to finish it this time, and he believed there were not many safer options than being in a canoe on the river by himself.

Moore’s journey started out in Astoria, Oregon, and he traveled upstream through Washington, Idaho and Montana in just 97 days. He then traveled down the Missouri and Mississippi rivers to reach New Orleans, Louisiana.

After finishing out his current stretch on the Ohio River, Moore will continue on into the Kanawha and Allegheny rivers, through the Chadakoin River eventually leading to Lake Erie. He will then head east and south to eventually end up at the Hudson River.