On Tuesday, June 12, the Ketchum Ranger District Trail crew repaired the footbridge that was washed out along the Fox Creek Trail. That evening trail volunteers with the BCRD Adopt-A-Trail program showed up to help finish the project.

Last year a huge spring run-off left the footbridge in a position that no longer spanned Fox Creek. This spring, the KRD’s Justin Blackstead and Renee Catherin came up with a plan for moving the existing bridge back into a usable position. They dug the bridge out of the soil and used heavy-duty cable-pulling tools to drag and float the bridge into a position that again spanned the creek. Then they used jacks, and other means, to lift the bridge into a high position, and onto rock and timber abutments. Next came log stringers; to provide for the retention of rock and soil that would become the bridge’s ramped approaches. All in a day’s work.

 

At 5:30 p.m. the main body of the KRD crew passed the baton to the volunteers. Justin, and fellow KRD crew member Murphy Danko, stayed at the work site to lead the volunteers, and to keep working on the fix. The volunteers gathered and hauled rocks and soil in to the areas needing filling. The rocks were fitted into a base layer and soils were compacted over that to built up the native-surface ramps.

After wrapping the project up, and witnessing the first trail users roll and stride across the repaired bridge, the work-gang headed back to the trailhead. There they enjoyed some good company, brats and sodas (Thanks BCRD!), and some cold beers (Thanks Sawtooth Brewery!).