Two canoes visited Burlington's riverfront Thursday morning, sliding comfortably to rest in shallow water in the center of the parking lot north of the Port of Burlington.

There are some advantages to a flooding river.

The river is expected to hit its crest this morning at 17.8 feet, more than 2.5 feet above flood stage. At that level, it affects the north and south parking lots and ramps but does not top the flood wall between the port and Memorial Auditorium.

The river is then forecast to begin a gradual fall to below flood stage by Tuesday afternoon.

The canoeists, while traveling together at the moment, just happened to decide to tackle the mighty river about the same time and met while paddling, and decided to travel together, off and on.

Josh Troegle, 28, the eldest of the three, is soloing with an oar rig. A state champion wrestler from Arlington, Texas, he has the arms to handle the big river just fine, and is taking it all the way from Lake Itasca, Minn., to New Orleans, hoping to complete the 2,400-mile journey by the end of August.

Troegle is doing the trip minimalist, with a tent, sleeping bag, a solar-powered weather radio, VHF marine radio to talk to tows and lock operators, and a slick, simple little GPS-type satellite device that he punches daily to let his family know where he's at via Google.

Troegle said he's simply doing the things he wants to do before settling down to a 9-to-5 family life. A year ago, he worked as a whitewater raft guide in Maine, then moved to Montana with some friends and took a turn at a ski lift and resort work last winter.

Despite some apprehension and numerous warnings about the river from friends and family, Troegle said so far, the trip has been a delight, and the high water from Bellevue south has been a welcome plus, allowing him to make 40 miles a day rather than 30.

Besides seeing lots of wildlife, including eagles, river otters and osprey, on the upper reaches, he's been pleasantly surprised by the people he's met along the way.

"The people have really been fun to meet, from all walks of life," he said.

What's next? Well, his younger brother is a professional ski instructor at a California resort for veterans who have lost a limb, so he's thinking of joining him in that work for a time before deciding his next move.

The two younger canoeists have a completely different story.

Veasey Conway, 20, and Daniel Kelley, 21, are from opposite ends of the country - Conway from Cambridge, Mass., and Kelley from Palo Alto, Calif. - who met at Carelton College in Northfield, Minn.

A couple of sharp young men with definite plans for the future, they simply wanted "to discover the river, the land, the people. We want to see how the river has shaped cities, towns and culture."

Conway and Kelley have a blog - mississippiriver.wordpress.com - where they write about their adventure, including weathering the torrential storms that struck northeast Iowa while they were on the river at Dubuque.

Kelley is interested in product design and has transferred to Brown University, where he plans to major in either engineering or neuroscience. Conway is an American Studies major with a strong interest in photojournalism.

They plan to get as far Memphis, Tenn., by Aug. 17 before exiting the river, because Conway leaves a week later to travel to Egypt to take a semester of photojournalism.

Kelley and Conway raised the money for their trip through their website, soliciting donations from friends, family and even strangers. They did the math and figured they could make the trip on $2,500, and they raised $2,800. So off they went.

After a short visit with local riverside visitors and a few downtown errands, the boaters slipped off in the high, fast-moving water, hoping to reach Keokuk before nightfall.