Why I Haven't Walked Across the River

I am dying to walk across the river. I want to get to the other side.

But it is unfortunately very unsafe. You'd think that after the temperatures we've had the river would be frozen throughout. But the truth is rapids for one do not freeze, and some areas which I suspect are areas of upwelling also stay open.
Open areas are not per say a problem. But areas with thin ice, either because the ice stay thin in those areas, or because they just recently froze, cannot be seen and are very dangerous.
Falling through the ice on a frozen lake is less than ideal, falling through the ice of a large fast flowing river like the Slave River is pretty much guaranty to be fatal. You would not be able to get back to the hole you fell through because of the current and really the river is practically completely frozen so it would be near impossible to find another open hole.

So very reasonably (boringly?) I am staying on my side of the river.
Though I did get to cross the river in Fort smith (same river just 20 kilometer upstream) where a crossing is clearly marked.

In Fort Smith the open areas where the rapids are can clearly be seen from the fog that raises from them on cold days.

But a crossing is clearly mark where you can not only walk, but also ride a snowmobile across.

And it doesn't mean that there are no cracks in the ice. This on was over the crossing.

The crack below is from the river near me, near the edge of the river. See how far it goes?

The trick traditionally used, if you have to cross the river, is to do so carrying a long pole, a bit like a rope walker. The idea is that if you fall through the pole will not fit through the hole and you will be able to hold on to it and pull yourself out. Then of course you have to deal with the fact that you are wet in the cold and possibly far from any source of heat. Somebody else also mention crossing the river with a long stick AND an axe, so that if you do go under and loose the stick you can maybe break the ice with the axe to come back up... or if you fall through but the stick stops you  you can cut wood to make a fire to warm up.
Either way I will pass for now and stay on my side of the river.

The photo below was taken on a warmish day (-15C,  5F) and you can see a dark patch in the snow on the river where there is open liquid water but there is no fog because it is not cold enough.

Here you can see it.... I used the zoom. Though I have to admit that when you see the water you just want to go and see it up close. It was very hard to resist.

The freezing of the river is not a gentle process. Some parts of the river are smooth, as in the photos above, but some are terribly chaotic.