This was our second time white water rafting with Smokey Mountain Outdoors, and it was another great time on the Pigeon River. This time our guide was D.J. and he was the perfect host. Knew his sh*t, and made a good time - a great time!! We had a first timer with us named Karen (go ahead and chuckle at that - we do all the time), and she was extremely nervous about safety.. not only was D.J. perfect at joking along with us, but you could really tell he was an expert on this river.. and knew exactly how to hit these rapids - maximized the fun - all the while keeping our “Karen” smiling and feeling safe.. he had jokes, he had names for all the different parts of the river, and did stuff that other guides weren’t doing.. you could tell that this guy genuinely enjoyed his job... that stuff is hard to fake..
That’s what this type of stuff is all about, after all.. we’re a bunch of tourists from Chicago.. not many opportunities to do a lot of white water rafting up by us..when you go on a trip like this, it’s a big deal.. and it costs real money.. the guide has to be a chameleon, and D.J. did an amazing job making us feel like we were the most important people on the river today... I can only imagine that every trip is a new challenge.. different skill levels with people from all over the country and these guys (and girls) need to change their tactics on every trip...
S.M.O. had this thing nutted.. and with guides like D.J., it’s easy to see why they’re the best on the river.