the fundraiser through nervous Nellie's has ended. If you would like to know more about or support Henry Penfold's adventure, go www.sanfords.org.
Here's the story. . . . This wild-seeking, adventure-bagging kid graduates from Bowdoin College in May, 2026 then sets out, with his friend Caleb to hike, ski and paddle around Baffin Island in the ensuing five months. About 2,300 miles! Each leg shown on the map represents hundreds of miles and weeks of of very remote travel. They "practiced" by trekking the Greenland coast last summer, as pictured here. Along the way they will collect data to answer questions about vegetation expansion and the impact of thawing permafrost on Baffin’s rivers
Henry has been exhibiting this kind of gumption all his life. As a boy, he slept in the back yard all year long. (Remember, we are in Maine....). As risk-flaunting boys, he and his brothers rode their bikes all over the island, preferring the woods or winter sea ice to trails or roads. As an incoming Bowdoin freshman, Henry chose not to arrive in the family station wagon, but to row a skiff from Pickering Cove (across from his house), down the coast to Bowdoin's Coastal Studies Center, arriving just in time for the welcome lobster bake. The solo trip took about 4 days, covering 25 miles a day, camping at night on whatever island was at hand.
Nervous Nellie's is helping to sponsor Henry's trip and I hope you are inspired to support this kind of island-grown gumption, too. The world needs more young people who are willing to go to the edges, challenge themselves and show us all what full bore gumption can do. I can't wait to see what this fellow is doing in 10 or 20 years, and I'm sure I will be glad to have nourished his wild spirit.
