They are an unmatched pair. One muscled and mellow, the other trim and intense.
Yet, Rich Malagrifa and Roy Roberts, two airline pilots from eastern Tennessee, turned out to be perfect partners in an adventure: Paddling the entire length of the Mississippi River together in a canoe.
"I'm a strength guy, and he's an endurance guy," Malagrifa said in a telephone interview from his home in Knoxville. "I'm like 215 (pounds), and he's about 160."
Oh, they had their disagreements from time to time while following the river current from Minnesota to New Orleans, but nothing they couldn't work out. (It turns out "going with the flow" is sometimes not as easy as it sounds.)
Being only a few feet away from another human being for 52 days presents its challenges.
"It's kind of like being married," Roberts said in an interview at his Signal Mountain home. "I remember one day I got mad about something, but what was I going to do, get out of the boat?"
The men, both age 61 and born days apart, seemed destined to make the trip together. Both are pilots for a major airline. On a transcontinental flight together about two years ago while passing over the Appalachian Mountains, Malagrifa looked down and mentioned he had hiked the entire 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail.
(READ MORE: Etowah, Tennessee, father and son hike the Appalachian Trail.)
Later, when passing over the Mississippi River, Roberts said: "You know what I want to do? Paddle down the Mississippi River."
Both bucket-list guys, Roberts and Malagrifa were soon making plans to do just that, paddle down that long, gray-brown river that is a main artery of America's industrial and agricultural circulatory system.
Roberts recalls, "He (Malagrifa) called me the next week and said, 'When are we going?'"
Roberts, a competitive paddler, had the on-water experience and navigational skills to handle the river. And Malagrifa knew he could tackle any camping or logistical hurdles the two might encounter. He also brought the '70s era tunes — like songs from Billy Joel and Elton John — which he played on a portable speaker.
It wouldn't be a continuous trip. Although it took fewer padding days than expected, the men still had to chop the trip into four legs because of their airline schedules. It started in September 2022 and took about a year. All together, they were on the Mississippi for 52 days, covering more than 2,000 miles.
(READ MORE: Local pilot buys Japanese fire truck.)
Roberts said he had been paddling for about 10 years. He had made canoes out of cedar and fiberglass and gained experience racing on the Tennessee River, so he handled the navigation. Malagrifa served as travel secretary for the trip, making motel reservations and planning stops days in advance.
Unlike the Appalachian Trail, which is like an ant trail with more than 3,000 hikers trying to complete the journey each year, only an estimated 30 to 50 souls attempt to paddle the length of the Mississippi annually. Roberts and Malagrifa said they would go days on the river without seeing anyone else on the same mission.
The Mississippi River has distinct stages, the men said, from its sedate, lake feeding headwaters in Minnesota, through the lock-filled Midwest, to the agricultural South and finally to the busy delta area around New Orleans.
While they had interactions with some people on the riverbanks along the way, it was largely a solitary trip spent dodging barges, which were massive alongside the little canoe.
"We were almost invisible out there," Roberts said. "(The barges) create a pretty good wake. You have to give them lots of latitude. ... (But) we never capsized."
Near the end of their journey, where the mighty Mississippi empties into the Gulf of Mexico, Roberts remembers reaching down to dip a hand in the water and touch a finger to his tongue
Salt!
"There are a lot of cool ways to see the world," Roberts said. "Seeing the interior of our country via the Mississippi River was fantastic."
For his part, Malagrifa said having checked off the Appalachian Trail and the Mississippi River, he will continue to look for challenging journeys that will test his determination.
"Next year I plan on cycling across the country," he said.
To suggest a human interest story, contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6645.
Contributed photo / Roy Roberts, front of boat, and Rich Malagrifa, back of boat, recently completed their goal of paddling the entire length of the Mississippi River. Roberts, of Signal Mountain, and Malagrifa, of Knoxville, are both pilots for a major airline. It took 52 days on the river, spread across a year, to complete the journey.