Swedish kayaker to paddle around the U.S.

[eric myers 2]

SEATTLE, July 1 (Reuters) - A Swedish adventurer is preparing to paddle from Seattle on July 4 in an attempt to become the first person to circumnavigate the entire continental United States by kayak and bike.

Renata Chlumska, 31, a kayaker, scuba diver and mountaineer who has climbed Mount Everest, said she hopes that the 480-day trip will inspire others, especially women and young girls.

"As a young girl at the Mount Everest base camp, I got inspired by the women I saw climbing," Chlumska said, "Girls can do anything today ... if they learn failure is a part of learning."

Chlumska had originally planned to do the kayak-bike adventure with her fiance, fellow adventurer Goran Kropp, who was killed in a 2002 climbing accident near Seattle.

Kropp became famous for a 1996 journey in which he rode his bicycle with all his equipment 6,900 miles (11,000 km) from Sweden to Nepal, climbed Mt. Everest without porters or supplemental oxygen, then bicycled back home to Sweden.

The total distance Chlumska is expected to cover is 11,200 miles (18,000 km), with the first leg taking her south from Seattle to San Diego. Mapped satellite positions of her location and journal entries will be posted on her Web site at .