Unfortunately, we will not be able to go further west past Hugo Street this year.  For those River Trailers that live in the area west of Hugo, I know the ice looks beautiful to skate on, but the ice-auger tells a different story. When the Assiniboine River opened up in January, it flooded most of the Assiniboine River in the Wolseley area. A thin layer of ice formed and then it snowed. So, now we have four layers on the river:

1. Snow layer
2. Thin ice layer
3. River water layer
4. Thick ice layer 

Unfortunately, the snow is insulating the river water, and preventing it from freezing through. The thin ice layer is only 4 inches thick, and we need at least 14 inches to get our snow clearing equipment on the ice. If it hasn’t frozen yet, it won’t for the rest of the season. So, that’s it, (sigh…) all that work for nothing.We have, however, gotten to expand on the Red River this year and included a Riverview connection to the ACU River Trail. So, while one spot couldn’t be ventured to this year, a new area got to be introduced.

Lesson learned: the ACU River Trail will be different from one year to the next.