R.R. Branstrom/Daily Press photo Peter Frank of Escanaba rings a bell that was handed to him after he pulled his canoe, "Fool's Errand," onto the beach in Escanaba on Monday after completing his Great Loop journey.

ESCANABA — The frost had just melted in the morning sun when the shape of the young man in the canoe came into view for the dozens who waited with anticipation on Aronson Island in Escanaba on Monday morning.

Minutes later, cheers burst forth from those who had rushed to the sandy beach to greet 24-year-old Peter Frank of Escanaba as he rounded the rocky point and paddled up to the Escanaba Municipal Beach, where he had launched his Sawyer Loon, named “Fool’s Errand,” 16 months earlier.

After he stepped out and pulled the small boat onto the sand, the first words out of Peter’s mouth after he tossed his iconic tricorne hat into the air were a Forrest Gump quote: “I’m pretty tired. I think I’ll go home now,” he uttered in a drawl.

Despite that statement, he stayed on the beach speaking to the crowd, both at large and one-on-one, for about an hour. There were people from near and far who had followed his journey online and had brought signs, family members who were lifted into the air when Peter hugged them, cameras wielded by individuals and news crews.

The traveler took time for all who wanted a moment, a photo, to shake his hand or to tell him how his journey had affected them. Like a confluence of rivers, several powerful factors came together to give Peter’s journey meaning. It wasn’t just that he made a 4,853-mile journey solo or was purportedly the youngest person to complete the Great Loop — the name for the route that passes through the Trent-Severn Waterway, the East Coast, Florida and rivers, an impressive story of determination and perseverance. Peter’s warm reception in Escanaba and online was also partially because of the warmth he himself exuded as he went along, making countless connections.

“He’s always been a character. He’s always been willing to go and talk with people,” said Erick Kestila, who had been Peter’s Scout leader from the time he was 11 years old in Troop 408. “I think that’s one of his biggest personality traits. … He likes to talk with people, so he’s very personable, and I think that helped him along this trip.”

Peter’s story is also one of overcoming obstacles and turning tragedy into a positive. At age 14, he was run over by a car and doctors didn’t know if he would walk again. That incident happened Oct. 20, 2015, exactly 10 years to the day before Peter concluded the Great Loop on Monday.

As he stood on the beach and addressed his audience, it was hard to tell whether Peter’s trembling was because of the chill — while the crowd was bundled up, he was in bare feet and tattered homemade trousers after walking in the water — or because of emotion.

“What happened this morning with the weather was an anomaly in the middle of October, and I have truly been blessed to be able to paddle in on this day, on October 20,” Peter said. “So I’m thankful to be here with you all and share this moment and share this victory with each and every one of you that has participated in this journey in more ways than you will know — just by being there, viewing it and sharing it with your friends and being able to internalize the messages, the philosophies, the beauties of it all, because this was a very, very beautiful thing.”

Many admired the values he kept with him as he traveled the last 479 days. Although his first expedition — a unicycle trip from Appleton to Phoenix in 2021 — was a fundraiser for Beacon House of Marquette, which had helped his family when Peter was hospitalized, this most recent trip was purely to tackle a challenge.

Peter said he turned down several sponsorships from various brands because the Great Loop was an undertaking for adventure, accomplishment and personal growth, not “to advertise crap to you that you don’t need,” as he wrote in a Facebook post Sunday night.

Though his journey was documented on social media and provided many with a refreshing, uplifting departure from the other types of negative content regularly encountered on the internet, Peter admitted that he had debated “if there was a way to document this right, to share without participating in the soul-draining monotony. I wanted to give more than I took, and I hope that was the case.”

It’s safe to say that many of his tens of thousands of followers would agree that he succeeded. Though he wasn’t after fame, he earned some.

People were honored to give back to Peter along the way, too — offering him places to stay, sharing food, bringing drinking water when they found him portaging or providing supplies.

Kathy and Gene Woodward of Galesburg, Ill. — who sometimes serve as “river angels” to those traversing the Mississippi River — rearranged their schedules and drove up to congratulate Peter at the beach in Escanaba on Monday. Kathy said she first learned about Peter when he was making his southbound paddle of the Mississippi, and although the Woodwards didn’t meet him on that journey, their paths came together in Henry, Ill., just last month when Peter’s canoe seat broke and they brought him 2 x 4s to fashion a replacement.

Though Peter encountered a number of hurdles along the way — foul weather, vicious currents, fearless alligators — his mother, Ellen Frank, said that she trusted her son’s knowledge, judgment and experience despite her moments of concern.

“He never took huge risks — like, he really weighed all his pros and cons, did his research,” Ellen said.

“Of course, we missed him and were worried about him, but the whole time, I had like an inner knowing that he was gonna be okay,” added Johanna Frank, Peter’s sister, “and that he’d make it and that he’d complete it, because his determination and strength is so strong.”

The reality that the journey that had begun in June 2024 was coming to a close struck some Delta County residents on Sunday, when Peter and friends were portaging along M-35, followed by a queue of cars on the shoulder.

The last night was spent just past the Ford River, which gave Peter a much shorter last day — only six miles of paddling. There were days recently that he’d done 40.

Kevin Chown, who’d hosted the canoeist that final night, spoke highly of the young man as people surrounded Peter on the beach. “There are a few from Escanaba that have drawn this much attention to Escanaba for good reasons,” Chown said. “I’m proud of him, man. … It’s really cool. And it’s cool to see people down here, too. The community’s very supportive of people that really go for it.”

Many Escanabans feel similarly proud.

“Thank you for being such a fine representative of us up here, everywhere you went,” said Escanaba Mayor Mark Ammel, shaking Peter’s hand upon his return to shore.

In celebration of Peter’s trip completion, a welcome home party, open to all, has been scheduled for from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the House of Ludington in Escanaba.

Peter said he will be working on a book over the next year. It will be an extension of his Great Loop project, a means of detailing his expedition so that readers may have a fuller understanding of “the emotions, the challenges, the connection and, of course, the deep philosophical life lessons that carried me through to the very end.”

But for now, he shall rest.