Jake Stachovak of Wausau, Wisconsin, reached Bridge View Park in St. Ignace after a brief stop on Mackinac Island Saturday evening, July 31, after paddling his kayak about 4,500 miles as part of his Great Circle Loop journey. Approximately 1,000 miles remain in his trip, taking him from Wisconsin along the East Coast and back to his starting point in Portage, Wisconsin. When Jake Stachovak paddled underneath the Mackinac Bridge and landed at Bridge View Park in St. Ignace early Saturday evening, July 31, he was about a week away from completing a kayaking journey that has taken him from Wisconsin to the Gulf Coast, up the Atlantic seaboard, and into three of the country's five Great Lakes, Erie, Huron, and Michigan. Now, he's thinking about future trips that will include lakes Superior and Ontario. Eventually he would like to paddle along all of the shores of the Great Lakes.

Nearing the end of his journey, Mr. Stachovak was met at the park by the Bassett family of St. Ignace. The family is one group of about 700 people who have been following Mr. Stachovak's adventure on the Internet.

At Bridge View Park, kayaker Jake Stachovak (right) is recognized by Dan Otten of Grand Rapids, who was happy for the chance to sign Mr. Stachovak's kayak. The kayak is filled with signatures from fans and supporters of Mr. Stachovak's journey. Mr. Otten was surprised to see the fellow kayaker there, as he had just read about his journey in a magazine. Steve Bassett stumbled upon Mr. Stachovak's journal entries on his Internet site and shared the story with his parents, Donna and Gary. The family loves to kayak and they live on Lake Michigan on Pte. LaBarbe. Offering Mr. Stachovak a warm meal, a shower, and a soft bed for the night just seemed to make sense, said Mrs. Bassett.

“His route took him right past our house,” she said.

Steve Bassett of St. Ignace and his mother, Donna, sign Mr. Stachovak's kayak. Mrs. Bassett and her husband, Gary, (not pictured) invited Mr. Stachovak to spend the night in the family's Pte. LaBarbe home before he continues heading west on his return journey to Portage, Wisconsin. Dan Otten of Grand Rapids arrived by kayak at Bridge View Park the same time as Mr. Stachovak. Mr. Otten had just finished kayaking from Mackinaw City to St. Ignace. He was pleased to recognize Mr. Stachovak from a magazine article he had just read that week.

“This is an added bonus,” he said of meeting Mr. Stachovak, who invited Mr. Otten to sign his kayak.

Along his journey, Mr. Stachovak estimates about 1,000 people have signed his 17-foot, bright mango yellow Seda kayak. He carries a supply of permanent markers, but still, early signatures from the trip have faded. He plans to retire the kayak when he completes the journey. The signatures and messages are important to him, he said.

A carpenter by trade and a kayak instructor, Mr. Stachovak has an associate's degree in business management and residential design. A native of Wausau, Wisconsin, he is returning home after living in Florida and California for the last 10 years. The move made the timing of the trip possible. Once he settles back into life in Wisconsin with his parents, Dave and Carolyn, and his two brothers and their families, he plans to begin looking for work. Also, if he can find a “patient editor,” he hopes to write a book about the trip.

Eight months earlier, when the sea kayaker began his adventure in early December, he could not have imagined that a winter storm would force a 240-mile detour, most of his gear would be stolen on his second week out, or that he would be hit with pepper spray as part of a teenage prank. Even so, the kindness of people like the Bassetts and others who have assisted him along the way and supported his efforts has left him with no regrets about the trip.

Well, he does admit only one regret.

“Being alone a lot has been hard,” said Mr. Stachovak.

During bad weather, the 35- year-old said he was happy to be paddling solo, but on good weather days he wished someone was there to share the experience and the beauty.

Most people he has talked with along the way have wanted to know why he is making the journey.

“I'm not sure,” he said. “I hoped that when I started the trip, I would have an answer by the time I was done. I'm on the home stretch and I'm not discovering the answer yet.”

He does, however, hope his trip helps to motive others to do the things they have always wanted to do.

“I'd like people to not 'est' themselves out of their trips,” he said. “'Esting' means just because you are not the first of the fastest or the newest or youngest or the oldest -- everybody thinks they have to be something special before they do the trip. Who cares? Just go do it because you want to do it.”

For those who can't take the entire journey at once, he advises, do it in segments.

“It's not so much the route itself, it's the doing of the route,” he said. “If you want to circumnavigate Lake Superior and you don't have the time or money to do it in one big run, do it in pieces. You've still circumnavigated Lake Superior.”

His journey began in Portage, Wisconsin, a small river town that is a portage between the Wisconsin and Fox rivers, and has a fur trading history. The connection of fur trading and the northern portion of his trip he finds interesting.

Like most of the places on his trip, this was the first time he has been to the Straits area. He spent the day on Mackinac Island. He had been advised by friends not to go, but he says he is glad he did not listen to them.

“It was everything everyone told me it would be,” he said, laughing. “People expect me to be looking for soaring eagles and deer sipping from the lake and all these wild and natural experiences, which, of course, I've had. They almost apologized that Mackinac is a lot of fudge shops and tourist knick-knack shops. But hey, if that's what it is, that's what I want to go see. It was cool and I enjoyed it and it's not all that. I took a hike up to Arch Rock on a really beautiful path through the woods.”

He also enjoyed the reenactment at Fort Mackinac.

For him, paddling under the Mackinac Bridge was a transition point in his trip of leaving Lake Huron and entering Lake Michigan. He has never driven across the span, which he calls “mom's bridge.” His mother is from the Ironwood area.

“She really loves the U.P.,” he said, “and every time she comes up here, she has to drive across the bridge.”

Now, after 238 days, he has camped out most nights, went for days without talking, and has never come close to tipping over the kayak.

Fully packed, his kayak weighs about 200 pounds. He carries a minimal amount of supplies, outdoor gear, adventure clothing, and multiple dry packs that contain an arsenal of electronics. To stay in contact with family and friends, he has two cell phones in case he can't get one recharged, a small computer with a spare battery, a back-up drive, flash drives to save his photographs, and a camera.

He has averaged about 20 photographs a day, at first taking postcard style pictures and then he began taking photographs of things that were important to him. He almost did not appreciate the Statue of Liberty, as he was too busy taking the traditional tourist picture.

“At the Statue of Liberty,” he recalled, “I stopped and snapped a few snapshots like I always do. I got a couple of me in there. I was about to paddle away. I literally picked up my paddle and was about to paddle away and I stopped and thought, 'That's really the Statue of Liberty.' It just kind of sunk in. I almost passed up on that feeling and that was pretty cool, I've got to say it.”

He was surprised by his own emotions when he reached the Gulf of Mexico. The place itself wasn't that special, he remembers, but it remains significant to him.

“The trip was always something I wanted to do,” said Mr. Stachovak. “As soon as I made it to the Gulf of Mexico, it was something I was doing. That was a really neat feeling.”

After the trip, he would like to go back to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where he was hit with pepper spray. They were aiming for his eyes, but hit the brim of his hat, he said.

“It left a dark shadow over most of the trip,” said Mr. Stachovak. “I'd like to give Vicksburg another try.”

The city, he is told, is a nice town and has a kayak race in October, which he plans to enter.

“It will kind of be a nice finale to the trip,” he said. “To me, that is sort of becoming in my mind the finish, finish. Then, I've dotted the 'i's crossed the 't's.”

About 1,000 miles remain in the trip, with about 500 miles left before he reaches Wisconsin. A finale party of his journey is scheduled in Portage for Saturday, August 28, and then he will finish a gap in his route created from the winter storm when he was on the Wisconsin River. A blizzard hit, bringing subzero temperatures and ice formations. He headed south by car and launched again near St. Louis, Missouri. He expects to be done by mid-September.

“Compared to running the Great Lakes, it will be a downriver run on the Mississippi,” he said. “It will be a pleasure cruise.”