Every Wednesday evening Paddle Manitoba takes advantage of the river access for paddling through out the spring, summer, and fall. Early in the year it is possible to paddle downstream, in two hours return you can get as far as the old The Trappist Monastery in St. Norbert, but as the water drops in the Red River the section below the dam becomes impassible. The trip from the dam to Brady rd (just upstream of River Oaks golf course) is a very pleasant 4.5km paddle. Over the summer you can see may birds (herons, owls, geese, Wood Ducks, Mallards, King Fishers, wrens, eagles, and finches), beavers, muskrats, and deer. This year there were three Otters living just upstream of the park that would show them selves to the lucky few. There are a wide variety of fish, painted and snapping turtles, and other aquatic wildlife. The occasional fox has been spotted along the shore with pups in tow.
The year started with a monster outing with many Paddle Manitoba instructors supporting over 50 paddlers, and more for the following BBQ. The end of the year was a smaller group but just as fun. There was as much as 80mm of rain on the 20th of September, and then more rain on both sides of that - the river was high enough to paddle on the low side of the dam for the final outing on September 25.
Jeff Vincent (Paddle Manitoba President), Eric Gyselman, and several other Paddle Manitoba members have been working with the City of Winnipeg to arrange better, accessible, water access. Hopefully we will also be able to arrange more secure accommodations for canoes, and be able to support member and drop-in options again in the future (keep tuned).
During 2019 Paddle Manitoba hosted twenty two evening paddles, with an average of five participants each week. There were a variety of water craft that came out over the summer - canoes, kayaks, sup, and others....
Once again I would like to thank the Paddle Manitoba Board for supporting these popular paddles and for the time they spent coming out. There was at least one Board member every week throughout the summer.
See you on the river next summer.
Charles.
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Email: burc...@cc.umanitoba.ca Last modified: September 20, 2019