White Water Rafting through Big Creek Expeditions - Joan Was our guide. After two days before having storms that caused flooding conditions, I wasn't sure they would even let us go. We walked out of the hotel and the creek beside it was moving sooo fast, that we saw some ducks on the water under the bridge, and ten seconds later, they had been swept on the river out of view. It was crazy fast water. It was a bit of a drive to get to Big Creek Expeditions from our Pigeon Forge Margaritaville Island Hotel, but the concierge Lore Lee had set up the reservations for us and told us this was the group that would make sure you were safe and wouldn't allow the boat to tip even if some on the same boat wanted to get wet. With a wife and two young boys, having an enjoyable and safe trip was a must and I needed it to go over without a scare so they would want to do it again.
We got there and listened to the safety presentation and felt comfortable with the crew. We were given Joan as our guide and I am not sure we could have asked for better. She was clear at the outset that because the river was so high and the water moving so fast, she was a bit nervous having my two boys (8 and 11) in those conditions. She stated that there were parts of the river where she would have them get down in the boat while my wife and I continued rowing. We screwed up the initial rapid (my fault as I had misunderstood her instruction and thought she meant row backwards, oops) and you could tell she was getting more nervous about this particular ride. We got better and more in unison as we went and Joan engaged and chatted with us the entire ride all the while giving us instructions on navigating the rapids safely and enjoyably. We accidentally had the boys on the raft during a class four rapid that she had intended on them getting down for. The current was sooo strong that day that we had tried to skirt it, but it pulled us in anyways. She was an expert though and while we took a pretty good "hit", the boys remained seated and we made it through and now have a story for the boys to tell. The only mishap on the trip was when Joan got stung by a bee on her underarm during one of the rougher rapids. We had a great time, would highly recommend both Big Creek Expeditions and our guide Joan to anybody considering white water rafting when in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area. We will definitely be back if we are in the area again. Thanks for a great time and memories to last a lifetime.
Odpowiedź od gospodarza
Aug 2019
Wow, Mike! What a compliment to not only Joan, but Big Creek Expeditions as a whole. We pride ourselves on having the most experienced and professional guides on the river, and Joan is an asset to our team. We are glad that despite the high water levels, we were still able to accommodate you and your family. Thank you for taking the time to let us know about your overall experience. We hope you will come back and visit us again in the future!