View topic - I SEEK YOUR ADVICE!! Smoky river south of Grand Cache

Hello All,

I am new to the forum and seeking knowledge from some experienced river travellers. I have a question about trying to paddle up the smoky River from sulphur gates.

-Is this even possible for one haha?

-Has anyone ever tried it?

-would I need a specific type of canoe/kayak to get it done/make it easier.

Last year I tried to canoe up the peace, put in on the BC side floated down and when I decided to turn around turns out I couldnt get back up!! haha. thats why I figured I better seek advice before trying the smoky and this seemed like the best place to ask. (mind you this was a super overloaded super crappy canoe)
I don't mind if the going is hard and slow as long as it is faster or close to the same as walking speed.

I haven't tried to go upstream on the Smokey but I have tried on some other rivers. I have only been somewhat successful when the current was slow in most places. Where there are riffles or areas of strong current it has been difficult. I have done a bit of poling and it certainly works better than paddling in the faster sections so on my most successful upstream outings I have used a combination of poling in the faster, shallower sections and paddling in the deeper, slower sections. Foothill streams are often shallow and rocky so poling is probably your best bet.