Hotlines: January-February 1998

Together with his recruits--wife Cate, 52; outdoor educator Donna Tatro, 36; and cook and climbing instructor Jen Whiting, 30--Allen, a retired news anchor, plans to paddle the length of the Missouri River, from its headwaters near Three Forks, Mont., to the Mississippi River at St. Louis, and then down to the Gulf of Mexico. And if you see them along the way, don't plan on them giving you the time of day. They're doing the entire trip without timepieces, meaning meals will be served when they're hungry and miles will be made without references. "We named the expedition, oxymoronically, A Year Without Time," says Allen, who canoed 2,000 miles down the Mississippi after retiring from the news business in 1975. "And we decided to travel without watches or clocks for a period that may become one year." Apparently, the corporate world can relate to Allen's clockless canoeing plans--the group has rounded up sponsorship from everyone from REI and MCI to Pillsbury and PowerBar.

Allen is careful to add, however, that it's not just another timeless pleasure trip. The group hopes to communicate to "the geezers of the world" that there are adventures out there that can be enjoyed regardless of age or sex. They also want to show that you don't have to travel to Outer Mongolia to have an adventure--there's plenty to be had right here in the U.S.--and that people should take time to back off from whatever grindstone their noses are stuck to and smell the daisies. "We just want to see certain parts of America as our forepops and moms--and Lewis and Clark--saw them," he says. "To escape call waiting, cars, fast food and airport lounges, and to escape the clock."

For two other members of the expedition, however, escaping the clock for an entire year has bigger implications than it does for Allen. For Diva, a 12-year-old chocolate lab, and Gypsy, a mutt, it will be seven years without time. Then again, dogs aren't known to wear watches.