Tonight I’m heading to Fort McMurray to join Don Van Hout and the Pembina Institute on their Athabasca River Expedition called “Connecting the Drops”.

At the heart of the Connecting the Drops is a two month expedition from the river’s glacial headwaters to its end in the Peace-Athabasca Delta to spark interest in issues surrounding the Athabasca River watershed.

The expedition team started their journey with a mountaineering trip to the headwaters of the Athabasca River at the Columbia Icefields in Jasper National Park in mid June 2007. Their descent from the icefield is being followed by a four to five week canoeing expedition of the Athabasca River. To fully appreciate the river in all its forms and to bring the river to the public, the expedition team will travel along the entire 1538 km length of the river. Along the way, the expedition team will also take side trips to other areas considered critical to the health of the overall watershed. To every extent possible, the expedition team will be self-contained throughout their journey to minimize their impact on the river.

In Fort McMurray this weekend the team has invited anyone who is interested to join in an Oilsands Canoe Floatilla to Fort MacKay. I’ll be along for the ride, taking photos and hopefully some video, which I’ll post when I return.

There’s more info in the video below, or on the website at: www.connectingthedrops.ca