Exploring the
Douglas Channel:

Earlier this summer we received an invitation to paddle the waters and enjoy the craft beers in the coastal community of Kitimat, British Columbia, located a three-hour drive from where we live in Smithers. We immediately jumped at the chance. After all, we’re avid paddlers who regularly ply Bulkley Valley whitewater in kayaks and on paddleboards, but we had never made the trip to the coast to enjoy its saltwater offerings. 

The drive from Smithers to Kitimat is a beauty. Highway 16 parallels the Bulkley River which flows into the Skeena and we were rewarded with views of both as we cruised through the inland spruce, pine, and aspen stands. When we turned south on Highway 37, the forests became laden with Hemlock, cedar and alder, making it obvious we were approaching the coast. 

Nearing Kitimat, we shared notes about what we knew of the community and the area. The Haisla Nation have lived here since time immemorial, while the town of Kitimat is very young; it was established in the 1950s as an industrial epicentre where an aluminum smelter was constructed and, recently, a natural gas processing plant. In the surrounding temperate rainforests are multiple hot springs, waterfalls, and a river system that boasts a prolific salmon run of five different species. We had planned a four-day trip but it was obvious we were only going to scratch the surface of what this place had to offer.

Our first stop was the Kitimat Information Centre where we met Laurel and Mercedes who offered maps and intel about the area. They also rented us sea kayaks, paddleboards, and safety equipment, all of which we managed to cram onto the truck. We then travelled to MK Bay Marina, grabbed some sandwiches for lunch, and got used to our gear with a short paddle around the sheltered Minette Bay during high tide.

We were immediately taken by the beautiful views. Two bald eagles perched on enormous cedar root balls in the middle of the calm bay and a blanket of green conifers and distant mountain peaks provided a backdrop. We then noticed a curious seal observing us from a distance with its bulging dark eyes and white whiskers. We also saw kingfishers, red-wing blackbirds, gulls, and fish rising to the surface of the water with little “bloop” sounds. The stumps in the middle of the tidal marsh had fireweed crowns and the water was tinged with glacial till from the river. Our boats skimmed through the tidal marsh maze and we felt like we had found a secret path into another world, with the sedges blocking our view to shore. We spent the rest of the afternoon paddling through a labyrinth of narrow channels watching sea grass sway underneath us before once again loading the boats and heading downtown to the brewery. 

Opened in 2023 by Nick Markowsky and Brandon Highton, Two Peaks Brewing has a large, bright taproom offering a vibe that’s part warehouse and part homey. It also has the largest patio in downtown Kitimat. We were happy to learn they serve food too and so we tucked into meals supplemented by beer flights that included eight of their 10 different offerings. We enjoyed being adventurous with the Guava American Wheat Ale and the Chai Dark Mild, which was surprisingly smooth with just a hint of cinnamon aftertaste. But the West Coast IPA was the favourite overall because of its distinct hoppy character and pine needle notes: it was delicious and perfectly refreshing after a day on the water.

Brandon was on site that evening and he told us about how they named the business for the two peaks of Kitimat’s local mountain, Mount Elizabeth. He then challenged us to a fun game of “Beer Golf.” This is where you do a blind taste of each beer and score points for accurately guessing the type of brew you’ve tasted. Ultimately we lost track of the scores from laughing so hard.  It was a great way to wrap up the first day of our trip.

At the end of the evening, we made our way to the Kitimat Lodge, a short walk from downtown, where we chatted with one of the staff to get more local info for our adventures to come before retiring to our quaint, stacked-timber cabin.

We had booked a shuttle boat to take us up Douglas Channel but because it wasn’t leaving until the afternoon, we decided to explore the Kitimat River on paddleboards. Chinook Salmon were running and people from all over BC were here to fish for “chromers,” so named because of their silvery scales. However, the river can be flashy, rising rapidly with rainfall and hosting numerous log jams that shift from year to year with the annual floods. We felt confident given our whitewater knowledge and experience but we did consult the water survey website for up-to-date river levels and we double-checked our safety gear:

• PFD
• Helmet
• Waist leash with quick release (never use an ankle leash on rivers)
• Partner (never paddle on the river alone)
• Throw bag
• Water shoes for the slippery and sharp rocks
• Thermal gear (wetsuit or drysuit depending on weather and water temperature)
• Water and snacks

We put in just upstream of the lower bridge for an easy Class II paddle and enjoyed the surrounding views. The Kitimat River is a creamy turquoise hue this time of year and it meanders past colourful river rock-strewn shorelines and sandy beaches that were lined periodically with anglers. We passed seals far up in the freshwater and submerged stumps decorated with the jewels of snagged lures as if the river had taken its tithe from the anglers. 

There were a few stumps and logs on the edges of the river, but navigation was easy and the main obstacles were cast lines from the anglers. One bystander waved us over and asked what kind of boats we were on. Evidently, they don’t see a lot of stand-up paddleboards in these parts. Overall, the river offered some fun eddy lines, great wildlife views, and a nice cool-down in the heat. We took out at the lower dyke and quickly transitioned to our overnight sea-kayaking gear. We returned to town, grabbed some groceries and to-go bottles from Two Peaks Brewing, and then made our way back to MK Bay Marina.

We had made arrangements through the Kitimat Lodge to be guided out to Jesse Falls, and from there we planned to paddle back to Minette Bay after finding a campsite for the night.

We were greeted by our captain, Spencer, who helped us load and tie down the kayaks and gear before idling his boat, Prospector, away from the marina. Once we were in the middle of the bay, Spencer said “Hold on!” in his charming British accent and throttled up. Soon we were zooming south along Douglas Channel toward the natural waterfall that is a permanent outflow from Jesse Lake, dropping 30 feet into the ocean. It was marked in the distance by a cloud of mist cast into the sky but as we got closer, we could hear the thunder of the falling water and see the foam and boils in the ocean at the bottom. 

Spencer stopped the boat at a safe distance and we hopped into our kayaks to get a closer look at the fresh water cascading down the large rock face. The falls were enormous! We played in the eddies and boils, watching the light disappear behind the hill, then climbed back onto the swim deck of the Prospector. We deliberated on a camp spot, at first considering a night at Jesse Falls, but then decided to head some distance back towards Kitimat so that we would have some time to relax and not chase the tides the following day. The wind always seems to blow inland in the afternoons on these hot July days, and with a later flood tide the next day we figured we would enjoy our stay in the morning and catch a ride back with the tide in the afternoon. 

The campsite we chose was called North Cove, located on the west side of Douglas Channel and only a short 7.5-kilometre-long paddle back to MK Marina the following day. It was an hour before dark when we waved goodbye to our water taxi and we had just enough time to unload the gear and set up camp before nightfall. We had brought along a collapsible crab trap and found some bait (a googly-eyed fish head) so we also kayaked a short distance out from shore and dropped it into the water to rest on the ocean floor overnight. We then made sure to pull our boats and gear up clear of the high tide line and finished the day sitting on the beach watching stars and listening to the waves before turning in.

Enormous driftwood stumps and rocky outcrops lined the shoreline while towering Sitka Spruce and gigantic Hemlocks grew out of a soft carpet of conifer needles and moss among the picnic tables and tent pads. We were excited to check our trap so we paddled out and pulled it up. Unfortunately the only thing inside was the googly-eyed fish head so we resigned ourselves to a breakfast of granola and leftover sausages instead.

While eating, we enjoyed watching the surrounding wildlife. Harbour seals continually popped up in the channel, watching us watch them. Stellar’s jays and ruby-crowned kinglets called to each other on the edge of the forest while bald eagles flew past the camp. Soon, three of the large birds landed nearby and fought over a fish one had caught. The juvenile lost out and instead came closer to inspect our crab trap. That’s when we noticed the trap had indeed caught something! While we were distracted by the bird show, a mink had crawled in to get at the fish head. As we approached to get a closer look, it darted from one side of the trap to the other, bouncing off the netting material and feverishly trying to escape. We used an emergency knife from one of the life jackets to cut the cotton rot line that allowed the side of the trap to open up. The mink immediately leapt through the new opening and scurried off the beach to the cover of the forest.

The tide was rising again so we packed up camp, stowing our drybags in the hatches of the kayaks, and began the return trip north. We poked along the west shore of Douglas Channel, stopping at a few places to investigate bays, beaches, and rock walls before crossing the inlet and beelining for the marina. Eagles observed our passage along the coast from treetops or stumps. The smells of the ocean, the breeze and the water all conspired to make us think we were far away, though we could see the town and terminal ahead. 

There were small following waves made by wind to help push us along and eventually, we figured out we could catch and surf some of these close to the midway point across the channel. It was a fun feeling to do this in our sea kayaks since we are used to surfing on paddleboards or playboats on river waves. A couple of strokes before the bigger wave sets and we got a free ride with a view from the wave top. We must have been having too much fun because Nick pulled on his paddle so hard it broke. We hadn’t brought a spare paddle with us like we should have, but luckily half a paddle was still enough to get across the channel to town. 

We finally pulled into the marina late in the day, glad to have caught some great weather and beautiful views. We celebrated with some rolling practice in the shallows, which was challenging given our fully loaded kayaks, but still lots of fun. That evening we returned to Two Peaks Brewing for supper and beer to celebrate a successful adventure.

The night was capped off with dancing at the Chilly & Dancer club, chatting with locals, playing pool, and reminiscing about our incredible experience. We saw mountains, forests, and wildlife while paddling the ocean and a river. And in between all of that, we enjoyed some delicious local beer. Before retiring to the Kitimat Lodge for the night, we discussed dates for our return trip to this amazingly secret paddle place.