High Mountain Expeditions

So much fun. Did the ½ day trip with the lunch. More than just a regular raft trip… They have water guns and let you jump off rocks. The only drawback was the loooooong bus ride to and from the river… But not much they can do about that, and the staff made it fun.
Great value, too. Highly recommend this place!

Had a great time with the family! We went July 2015. Water was cold, but it was a nice warm day. Lots of water guns and buckets of water being splashed between rapids. Over all a blast. Highly recommend.

My family of 7 (60s parents, 40s wife and sister and me, kids in their early teens) spent the week in Banner Elk, and did 3 separate excursions with High Mountain.
Watauga River Rafting: This is a good warm up for the real rafting trip on the Nolichucky. Mostly, it’s floating/​bumping down the river, with a 12-​ft rock you can climb/​jump off of, water guns to shoot at other boats, and VERY cold water. The water of the Watauga comes from the bottom of the dam-​created lake, and it’s about 50 deg. This is a very fun day, but not much on the excitement scale. They feed you first with cold cuts, bread, and fruit… not the best catering, really, and about the only down tick for the week. Oh, they take pictures on this trip, and the disc is worth it if you have a decent-​sized group that would buy pictures anyway. Physical rating: ²⁄₁₀
Nolichucky River Rafting: This is what you’re looking for as far as rafting goes. Quite a long day of rafting through several stage 3s, a couple stage 4s, and a few stage 2 rapids. You will be feeling this the next day. If you like rafting, this is a great trip. If you’re new to it, I’d try the Watauga first, as a warmup and to learn how to stroke, etc. If you don’t know what an adductor muscle is… you will. Again, they feed you the deli lunch (which they have to bring on the boats, so it’s more understandable). I’ll talk about the guides later. This was the highlight of the week for me. Physical rating: ⁷⁄₁₀
Worley Cave exploring: This is an unusual trip my wife found out about. You drive out to the cave, then spend 3 – 4 hours walking/​climbing/​crawling through a living cave. There are several fairly tight crawl-​ways, all of which can be bypassed by more open, yet not easier trails. I suggest doing the crawl-​ways if you can fit (only 1 is really tight). My mother of 64 with a 2-​yr-​old hip replacement did fine, if a little slower than she liked. You’ll see some great water-​sediment structures (stalag-​, stalact– and full columns/​walls). We even saw a bat! Physical rating; ⁶⁄₁₀
Note, each excursion included at least an hour in a school bus. I’m 6’0″, and I was fairly cramped riding around, especially after the rafting when I got very stiff. Bring some Ibuprofen or something to take for the trip home.
The guides are what make these trips special. These guys really know the area (or enough to fool us), and on the water/​in the cave they’re very competent and helpful. Be sure to let them know how good a job they did ($).
All in all, High Mountain’s summer excursions are a great way to spend a week. The food is nothing to write home about (I was hoping for some BBQ, but there’s some of that around), but everything else was very fun and exactly as advertised.