CLINTON, Iowa (KWQC) - The Mississippi River stretches more than 2,400 miles from northern Minnesota down to the Gulf.

A Quad Cities native took on that entire journey — but in an uncommon way.

For 55 days, Shawn Hamerlinck spent an average of 12 to 14 hours a day paddling the Mississippi River — but that wasn’t even his biggest challenge.

“The biggest challenge, hands down, is not the animals or the storms or the distance. It’s the human mind,” said Shawn Hamerlinck, professor at Clinton Community College.

His journey started on May 22 in northern Minnesota, but the idea had been in his mind for years.

A teacher in his youth planted the idea in him to see the entire ecosystem of the Mississippi River.

“You can see what you believe to be 5 feet down, and it’s actually 45 feet down. Y

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