JO Paddle North End Meeting — Attraction in Oregon

My family had a really disturbing experience with JO Paddle. I went kayaking with JO Paddle in 2020 and had a good time - good enough that I brought three new kayakers with me on this trip. At the end of the tour, the three guides guide you to the center of Wallowa Lake for stargazing and turn off the rope lights that illuminate the kayaks. It was at this time that the trouble began. My family were not involved in this incident but witnessed it, and it has left me deeply troubled.

A mother and daughter began to exhibit distress by blowing the whistle attached to their life jacket. The guides did not respond. The mother began calling for help and indicated that her daughter had to use the bathroom really bad. She asked to be taken back to the dock. Our lead guide told her absolutely not, he could not take her in for safety reasons, and that her daughter would have to wait 15 minutes to get back. The mother began to exhibit extreme stress at this point, telling the guide that her young child could not wait this long - that it was an emergency. Our guide responded by shouting at the mother to be quiet, stop ruining the experience for other guests, and said that he'd call the sheriff's department if she continued to be a disruption. This included our guide yelling obscenities at the mother and small child. Eventually, our guide said something akin to "Fine, I'll take you in, let's go" (I'm paraphrasing), and sped off away from the group toward the dock. He did this without turning on the woman's rope lights - the mother, an inexperienced kayaker, attempted to follow but lost the guide quickly. We heard her yell that she was making her own way ashore, and our guide proceeded to radio his wife (co-owner) to have the sheriff waiting to intercept the mother.

After the tour, a guide explained that the three guides could not separate and that it takes 15 minutes to get prepared for disembarkation. This begs the question, if there is no possible way to exit the water in under 15 minutes as our group was told, what would JO Paddle do in the case of a major emergency, such as a patron suffering a heart attack or stroke? While a bathroom emergency doesn't rise to the same level of severity as a heart attack, it certainly is an emergency for the person experiencing it. It is important for JO Paddle to understand that the need to urinate can indeed rise to the level of severe medical incident.

I want to emphasize that we were told that we absolutely could not exit the water safely in under 15 minutes. If this is true, it presents a major safety concern should a medical incident occur on the water in the dark. If it’s not true, the paddle guide displayed a profound lack of empathy for a suffering child. So either there is no evacuation plan that gets patrons off the lake in under 15 minutes, or the tour operator lacks de-escalation skills and empathy and instead resorts to yelling obscenities to solve conflict. I believe a guide should be a calm, authoritative presence customers can trust in an emergency.

The next day, the co-owner called to apologize for the behavior of the mother (their customer). I explained the concerns I have outlined here and that it was the guide who made me feel unsafe. The co-owner defended the guide's behavior. I reiterated that I'm hard-pressed to think of a single scenario in which it's appropriate to swear at a customer. I was again met with excuses and explanations but a refusal to acknowledge culpability.

I am sure the company will respond here with the same explanations and excuses they gave me over the phone – you can decide for yourself if you would risk kayaking with JO Paddle....

I'm not sure the daytime trip is necessary in the glass bottom kayak, but it is worth experiencing at least once. Wallowa lake has such clear blue water you have to experience it first hand. JO Paddle was great for this experience. A family small business they do a great job making sure everyone is safe and know what to do should anything happen.

We arrived early and enjoyed the view of the lake from the north end. After everyone else arrived we signed the waivers and received our PFDs and instructions. The kayaks are a little different than regular kayaks so pay attention to the instructions, respect the equipment, and enjoy the ride.

The owners helped each person into the kayaks. The bottom of the lake at the north end is rocky and in the fall it can be slippery as algae builds up on the stones. The owners made sure everyone was comfortable before pushing them away from shore. Once everyone was secured in the boat, off we went.

We set out to see if we could find the osprey nests along the Western shore. We followed along the West Bank, staying where we could still see the bottom of the lake. While the water is crystal clear it gets deep very quickly. Once you are 20-30 feet from shore all you see is the deep blue water below you.

Along the way we saw a multitude of lady bugs floating in the water. We started rescuing all we could get to. We placed them atop my wife's hat so they could dry off. Once they were dry enough they would fly, hopefully to dry ground.

We never did see osprey nests, but on our return trip to the north end we finally saw a fish swimming in the shallow water.

The owners helped us out of the kayaks and offered to answer any questions we might have about restaurants or the area. They were very professional and helpful. They made the entire experience safe and wonderful.

JO Paddle is fantastic. I highly recommend booking a glass bottom kayak tour with them at least once if you're visiting Wallowa Lake. We hope to get back to do the nighttime kayak trip in the future....

I was part of the tour that had a child needing to go to the bathroom. I did enjoy the tour, up until the end. What was an issue for me was the guide yelling across the lake (not once but for several minutes, talking over the guest that was upset), yelling at the guest to be quiet as "you are disturbing the other guests". This resulted in a yelling match, in which none of us could enjoy the night skies. At one point someone else (a guest) tried to calm the situation in which the guide yell at that individual to "stop talking!" I personally was very uncomfortable and did not feel like I could say anything or I would get yelled at, it was a bully situation. The guide threatened to make the guest pay for everyone's tour as now he had "to give everyone a free tour" because the situation got out of control. I think if the guide quietly spoke to the guest, off to the side and showed some respect then the situation would not have escalated. I am a retired ER nurse of 38 years (trust me, I understand high emotions and how things escalate), I also understand how bladder issues can arise. As to the emoji, it was NOT a devil emoji on Facebook but an angry emoji. You blocked me from posting a response as to why I put that emoji in a guest comment. Which of course...