Erden Eruç

Who is Erden Eruç?

Erden Eruç is a Turkish American adventurer who completed the first entirely solo human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth on 21 July 2012 in Bodega Bay, California. The journey had begun from Bodega Bay a little more than five years earlier on 10 July 2007. The modes of transport included a rowboat to cross the oceans, a sea kayak for shorelines, a bicycle on the roads and hiking on trails, along with a canoe for a few river crossings. The route he followed was 66,299 km long, crossed the equator twice and all lines of longitude, and passed over twelve antipodal points, meeting all the requirements for a true circumnavigation of the globe.

The circumnavigation was initially planned to include summitting the tallest mountains on six continents. As of 2013, Eruç has summitted three of the peaks, including Mount McKinley, also known as Denali, on 29 May 2003 more than four years before he began his solo circumnavigation, and Mount Kosciuszko and Mount Kilimanjaro during the circumnavigation. Eruç still plans to climb the remaining three mountains of his Six Summits Project on future journeys: Mount Everest, Mount Elbrus and Aconcagua.