White Water Rafting - The Ocoee River (Copperhill, TN)

We found yet another reason to go enjoy the outdoors near our new residence and that is rafting down the Ocoee River right about where North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee meet.

The upper part of this river was used in the 1996 Atlanta Olypmics but the middle part continues to be the most popular.  Our guide "Stan the Man" from White Water Express led our team of six down the middle Ocoee and really gave us a chance to make the rapids a little more challenging when we wanted and to pull up on top of some hydraulics as well.

A new move that I have not seen on my trips to other rivers was "riding the bull".  This is when someone sat on the front of the raft with their feet out the front and held onto a small cord as we dropped into a rapid.  We have a well documented case where Jolene's attempt at this results in just about all of us submerged (no finger pointing), floating down the river.  It's important to note that the lesson to make sure your feet are up so you don't get a foot caught in a rock really stuck with me since it appears I planned on keeping them out of the water for as long as possible.

We had a great group in our raft and whether Stan has 23 years or was it just one online class of experience he kept us out of trouble and having a great time.

While we were not rafting we were hanging out at the White Water Express compound where we spent a couple nights in one of their cabins.  We went horseback riding and even enjoyed doing flips off the "blob" in their small lake with a couple we met while rafting.

Our Cabin

A quick shout out to Scout and Jeremiah (horses) who took the time (whether they wanted to or not) to carry us around a muddy trail in the woods that one afternoon.

Lake + Blob

Mike Flip off Blob

It was definitely a fun trip and all the people we met made it very enjoyable.