This year, they’re going all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Nine Western North Carolina high school students enrolled in Western Carolina University’s Talent Search Program will head to Montana in July to pedal bicycles across the Rocky Mountains and along legendary rivers to the Oregon coast as they continue to follow the path of the famed Lewis and Clark expedition.

This year’s “Lewis and Clark Expedition of Rediscovery” is the final installment in a three-year project in which Talent Search students and program staff are retracing the famed explorers’ route by bicycling and paddling from St. Louis, Mo., to the Pacific.

The project started in 2003, when a group of eight Talent Search students rode bikes on a two-week, 450-mile route from St. Louis to Yankton, S.D. Last year, a group of nine students traveled two weeks by bicycle and canoe along a route of almost 500 miles in Montana.

This year’s journey, expanded to three weeks, will take nine students and six adults on a 750-mile cycling journey from Missoula, Mont., to Seaside, Ore., said Todd Murdock, director of Western’s Talent Search Program.

The Corps of Discovery, led by Lewis and Clark, began its 28-month, 8,000-mile trek in 1803, traveling from St. Louis to the Pacific, and then back to St. Louis. During the bicentennial anniversary of that event, the Expedition of Rediscovery provides an opportunity for the students to test themselves mentally and physically, learn some history, and find out how to get along in a group and make group decisions, Murdock said.

This year’s journey will begin on Tuesday, July 5, when the Talent Search contingent meets on Western’s campus to drive to the Asheville airport to travel by plane to Missoula. After a day of exploring around Missoula, the group will jump on mountain bikes to begin the ride to the Oregon coast, Murdock said.

On the second day of cycling, the contingent will cross over from Montana into Idaho and begin traversing the rugged Bitterroot Mountains. The days following will take the group to Lewiston, Idaho, and Walla Walla, Wash., along the Snake River to the Columbia River, and through Portland, Ore., to Seaside, Ore.

While they are traveling, the students cook their own meals and camp out each night. They also record their physical and personal journeys in journals and photographs.

This year’s group includes four students who completed the first legs of the Expedition of Rediscovery in 2003 and 2004 — Jason Murphy and Isaac Rhodes, both rising seniors at Hiwassee Dam High School; Jason Crisp, a rising junior at Smoky Mountain High School; and Drew Bowers, a rising senior at Swain County High School.

Three students who completed the 2004 journey also are returning — Miah Williams, a rising sophomore at Robbinsville High School; Jessie Nosworthy, a rising senior at Swain County High; and Tyler West, a rising junior at Nantahala School.

New students participating this year are Aaron Queen, a rising freshman at Swain County High, and Andrew White, a rising sophomore at Smoky Mountain High.

The adult staff will include Murdock; Talent Search staff members Maggie Donahue, Lisa Dubbert, Leigh McDonald and Russ Harris; and a Talent Search graduate, Troy Adams.

Talent Search is a federally funded program. Students join the program in the seventh grade and the Talent Search staff follows them through to their high school graduations, providing counseling while encouraging the students to go to the post-secondary school of their choice.

The Expedition of Rediscovery is financed with federal funds appropriated by the U.S. Department of Education. The trip is free for the students, who only have to provide their own spending money, clothing and personal items. Some equipment for this year’s trip is being provided by Nantahala Outdoor Center.

While they are on the Lewis and Clark path, the group will post regular updates on the Web, which can be accessed by going to the Talent Search Web site, http://www.wcu.edu/talentsearch, and clicking on the Lewis and Clark Expedition of Rediscovery link.

For more information about the Expedition of Rediscovery contact Murdock at 828.227.7137.