With sunburned skin and lean frames Lance Loney and Corey Smock pushed off of Vicksburg’s boat ramp on their canoe a little after noon Monday.

The duo, from Decorah, Iowa, have been on the Mississippi River since June 4 when they left Lake Itasca in Minnesota to make their way down the 2,552 miles of water between them and the Gulf of Mexico. The plan is to reach the gulf, 25 miles outside of Venice, La., by Aug. 5 or 6.

“It was kind of a crazy idea to do it, and then we researched and saw that other people did it and then we decided to do it for a cause,” Smock said.

Loney and Smock are paddling to honor Smock’s cousin who committed suicide and to raise money and awareness for suicide prevention. They set a goal of $10,000 and have raised $13,411 to date, but they are still working to get the word out and to raise as much money as possible.

“It’s hard to just pick up and donate to something like this, but it’s like every penny counts,” Smock said. “It doesn’t matter if you can donate a nickel or you can donate $10,000, everything counts.”

Smock said suicide isn’t discussed enough and it gets overlooked. He wants their ride to raise awareness.  All money donated at paddleforprevention.weebly.com goes straight to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

They paddled into Vicksburg Sunday and were greeted by Layne Logue, a Mississippi River Angel who lives in Vicksburg. Mississippi River Angels live along the river and voluntarily help those who chose to travel by water. He gave them a place to stay, let them charge their electronics, do their laundry and shower.

Logue also gave them a ride to get supplies and to see Vicksburg. The guys experienced dinner at 10 South and visited the Vicksburg National Military Park, the USS Cairo and the Lower Mississippi River Museum at the Old Depot Museum before they left Monday.

The goal of Monday’s journey was to make it halfway to Natchez. After they get to Natchez on Tuesday, their next city stop will be in St. Francisville, La.

The guys have about 10 more days and 437 more miles until they complete their journey. Smock’s sister will meet them in the gulf and take them to New Orleans for three days of vacation before they head back to Iowa and resume their jobs. Smock is a teacher, and Loney is a fishery biologist.

“We feel like we’ve been going pretty fast compared to what a lot of people do,” Smock said. “We both have jobs to get back to. We don’t have time to take it too easy on the trip, but everything’s good.”

Meeting people and receiving their generosity has been the best part of their quest. It does a little bit to restore their faith in humanity. Stopping in small towns has been a great way to network with more people farther down river.

“Coming to all these little towns and meeting the people and seeing the generosity of all the people by far has been [the best experience],” Loney said.

Loney said he had never been farther south than Kansas City, and he said it has been hot since they hit St. Louis.

So far they haven’t had any major mishaps or problems. However, the two-month journey has been quite a feat with bugs, heat and whirlpools threatening them on their way.

“Through it all, it’s still enjoyable,” Smock said.

They eat a lot of soup, chili, peanut butter, crackers, beef jerky and granola.

Loney has rode in back for the entire journey and Smock has taken the front seat. Miss Lacey is the name they gave their canoe. Lacey is a hybrid name of both Cory and Lance and Miss stands for the Mississippi River.
On the canoe they carry large jugs that hold four days worth of water, a cooler that can hold four days worth of food, camping gear, a tent, hats, sunscreen, a solar panel and portable chargers.

Logue said the Mississippi River is 25 feet above average and two feet over flood stage. The abundance of water has made it hard for the guys to find good campsites.

“When they see a campsite, they really got to contemplate either on stopping or pushing forward, but they may not find something down there,” Logue said.

Other river travelers have given out recommendations of places to set up camp on shore, and Logue has passed on the list to the duo.

To keep track of Smock and Loney, visit their Facebook, Paddle for Prevention, and they have four vlogs posted on YouTube under the same name.