High Sierra Topix

Seeing the abutment in that state is not subjective. Sure you can reason that it sustained a lot of load but this doesn't make it any less worrisome or apt to fail. This bridge has a greater chance of failure now that it is compromised. It can slowly start sliding and total failure is the straw on the camel's back in terms of people crossing it.

The bridge is now structurally unsound and the beams are resting on the granite rock. I am not a structural engineer so I can't speak to much of it but I do know something like this can slowly degrade and end up having a total failure event when a human is on it.

On another note I was in the area this weekend (ended up taking the mountain over). Forestry service had a flier with that Instagram picture on it cropped and text with the end reading to "NOT BE THIS PERSON!!!" It was part of the permit I got, was on a trail head and at the ranger district office as well. There are no reported deaths yet but they may not find bodies until the fall if they are in strainers.

Here are some pics I took myself.







It is quite extraordinary to see the river first hand, especially if you have seen it before in normal conditions.

Yeah, okay, I'm convinced. That's not a bridge I'll be crossing. If the water is lower mid-August, I might try a wet crossing, but it's probably entirely out of the question for this year. If Piute Creek is passable up high, I might use Snow Tongue Pass to get over to Evolution.

treks wrote: ↑Sat Jul 08, 2023 5:40 pm Forestry service had a flier with that Instagram picture on it cropped and text with the end reading to "NOT BE THIS PERSON!!!" It was part of the permit I got, was on a trail head and at the ranger district office as well.

That is hilarious and well deserved. I'd love a photo of that flyer.

Thanks for the recon and photos of the bridge.

That looks like a structure that could be there for another year, or gone tomorrow. Thanks for the close-up pics showing what I suspected from other pics; that the bridge is no longer anchored to solid ground.

rlown writes to Gogd:

So when are you going to cross it?

Gogd wrote:

If @ Harlen would do it, so would I!
Assuming the damage was due to snow pack overload, what remains of the bridge should easily carry the weight of a single hiker and his kit. The biggest risk, therefore appears to be the chance of falling off...

Apparently Ed is waiting for me first How did I earn my badge for recklessness! Maybe once I would have danced across a bridge like this, but like Wandering Daisy, age has been playing games with my nerves. I reckon I'll follow Nancy across it.

Ed's point above seems sound, but I feel better trusting real rock and tree branches. Manmade structures, like this twisted bridge bother me more. For the same reason, I never really cottoned to climbing on bits of metal gear, and learned to use me hooves and claws.

Side Note - Woods Creek Bridge.....I did not want to start a new thread on this, but talking of bridges and washouts, for those of you who know Woods Creek bridge well (I have only been over it once), does this photo below make sense? It was recently posted on the PCT Facebook page and apparently taken a while back on July 6th. - so before last weekends' heat wave. Lots of melt since the 6th. so wondering if this has been going on a while. If my memory serves and this is the bridge, this would be the north side:

Better yet, has anyone gone over it in the last two weeks? Would give an idea of creek levels and if coming down finally.

M.

@michaelzim - I was pretty shocked to see that photo pop up - truly incredible! Someone mentioned that on 7/13, the water was closer to waist high, which would track with increased melt from the heatwave. Haven't seen any updates since then, however.

Excellent pictures. re hikers actually using this bridge? I can see people tempted to try and walk across the outside left side, especially given the work around

Someone in the PCT group on the Book of Faces posted that they reached out to the Forest Service and received a call back stating that the bridge will be removed this summer and replaced next summer. Read that on 7-21-2023