Blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer found himself in an odd situation a few days back. Canoe & Kayak magazine is reporting that Erik was detained by locals in Peru while kayaking down the Marañón River, one of the main tributaries of the Amazon River. Weihenmayer is in South America with a group of 20 paddlers training for an attempt on the Grand Canyon next year and the team was mistaken for a group of scouts looking for suitable locations to build a dam on the Marañón. This is a highly controversial plan in Peru that has many of the locals up in arms.

According to the C&K report, the kayaking team was held overnight after being confronted by locals who warned them if they had proceeded further down river they would have been met by hostile villagers at the next location. Fortunately, the situation was resolved when it was revealed the paddling team's leader – James “Rocky” Contos – is a conservationist who is campaigning against damming efforts and has even made a film about the situation.

Weihenmayer is best known as the first blind person to summit Everest, but if you check out his website, you'll see that is just one of his many adventures. Erik has also climbed the rest of the Seven Summits, raced in the Leadville 100, competed in marathons and adventure races and a host of other activities.

After it was determined that the paddlers were not part of a dam survey team they were allowed to go on their way. But the situation underscores how passionate many Peruvians are about this topic. Commercial organizations have reportedly identified 20 locations to build a dam on the river, which will substantially alter its course and the landscapes around it.

These kinds of water rights issues are major points of contentions in South America at the moment. Chile is also facing similar resistance to several of it's rivers as well.

A couple of months back I wrote a story about David and Katharine Lowrie, a husband and wife team who were running the length of South America, south to north. The couple set out in July of last year with the intention of running 5000 miles (8046 km) along their planned route. Yesterday they announced that they had completed the run, reaching the Caribbean Sea in Carupano, Venezuela. The actual distance they ran? An astounding 6504 miles (10,467 km)!

The run, which David and Katharine had dubbed the 5000 Mile Project, began in Punta Arenas, Chile, the southernmost town on the continent. From there, they began traveling north, passing out of Chile and moving into Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and finally Venezuela. Along the way, they passed over the Andes Mountains and through the Amazon Rainforest, two natural obstacles that are daunting under any circumstances.

As if running 6500 miles across a continent isn't an impressive accomplishment on its own, the couple also managed to launch their Big Toe Classroom along the way as well. This portion of their website is filled with lesson plans and other educational tools for teachers. These free resources are designed for 7-11 year olds and were created to help them learn more about South America and the plants and animals that live there.

All told, it took David and Katherine 14 months, 23 days, 19 hours and 24 minutes to run from the southern tip of the continent to the northern coastline in Venezuela. That's a lot of time on the road and I'm sure they are relived to be done.

Congratulations to the Lowrie's on the completion of an impressive expedition. Well done!