It's important to test gear and be prepared, Erin McKittrick says -- moments before capsizing her 4-foot inflatable raft on Lake Union.

She is wearing a life jacket made from an old sleeping pad and an assortment of clothing that will not keep her dry or warm once she is in the water. The air temperature is below freezing. With a shrug of her shoulders, she flops over the side.

		Dan DeLong / P-I
	Bretwood "Hig" Higman and Erin McKittrick plan to leave their Seattle house and walk, float and ski to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. In the chilly waters of Lake Union, the couple were testing the lightweight rafts they will use to cross the fjords, bays and rivers in the journey.

"Cold water is probably the thing we are best at dealing with," said McKittrick's husband, Bretwood "Hig" Higman.

In June, the couple will start a 4,000-mile hiking, rafting and skiing trip that they hope will take them from their rental home in the University District to the north side of Unimak Island, the first of the Aleutian chain in Alaska. Using topographic maps and compasses, they will navigate an area with no roads or trails. They will carry 50-pound packs, average 17 miles a day and follow the edge of the Pacific across some of the wettest, highest and most bear-infested mountain ranges of North America.

"It's going to be a blast," McKittrick said.

They plan to finish by March 2008.

McKittrick, 26, has a master's in microbiology from the University of Washington, and Higman, 30, is planning to finish his Ph.D. in geology in June. They support themselves with $16,000 that Higman earns annually from his research and by selling jewelry that McKittrick makes.

Married in 2003, they met as undergrads at Carleton College in Minnesota.

Back then, neither was into long-distance, cross-country hikes, but on their first trip together during spring break in 1999, they went to Mexico where Higman proposed a three-day walk -- without maps or trails -- across part of the Yucatan Peninsula.

"I just said it to put it out there," Higman said. "And she said 'Sounds like fun.' "

That trip was followed by longer trips across Higman's native Alaska, where they have now logged nearly 3,000 miles. They hiked across the Brooks Range and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on their honeymoon.

The couple readily admits they are a bit odd, but maintain they are not crazy or taking unacceptable risks. This could be done by anybody, they say.

"What I equate us more with are the old-school explorers." McKittrick said.

As safety precautions, they may use tracking devices so friends and family can follow their progress and possibly an emergency beacon.

They also plan to document their trip with notepad and camera, then post findings on their Web site at aktrekking.com.

"I think the really hard part of the trip will not be the physical, but the physiological," said Roman Dial, a friend of the couple and a well-known Alaskan adventurer. "The big challenge is if they can do this for nine months. After a couple months it can be very hard to answer yourself, 'Why am I here again?' "

		Dan DeLong / P-I
	Erin McKittrick

Dial met McKittrick and Higman when the two competed in the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic, a cross-country, multiday, human-powered race that Dial has organized for the past two decades.

"I think these two really have the experience and drive to pull this off," Dial said. "I think they have the confidence and innovative spirit to deal with it."

Higman and McKittrick can't see getting bored or questioning their trip. For them, it's not so much a beginning and an end but a change in lifestyle for nine months.

"Sure, there will be bad days," McKittrick said. "But then you get to a really cool spot someplace and the sun comes out."

The couple is paying for the trip with a combination of their savings, donations from family members and gear sponsorships. To save money, and travel with equipment that's both lightweight and durable, they make their own backpacks, rain jackets, fleece garments and dry bags. They usually are forced to alter their store-bought gear, anyway, because it rarely holds up through the daily wear and tear of their treks.

After reaching Unimak Island, the plan is to either hitch a ride on a fishing boat or hire a seaplane to take them back to Anchorage.

"And if my life is going perfect, I will have a job in Anchorage starting in March," Higman said.

But after crossing the mile-wide channel between the Bering Sea and North Pacific to reach the mostly ice-covered Unimak Island -- and before settling down -- McKittrick has scheduled time to explore the island.

"It just looked so cool with the volcanoes on it," she said. "Why not hike around it?"

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Will they make it?