It's easy to be so focused on your primary objective that you unknowingly put blinders on to other elements or stories along the way. I know, because I have been guilty of it many times.
The drama of this scene, while hiking up the West Fork of the Wallowa River in the Eagle Cap Wilderness of Oregon, pretty much hit me over the head. The number of logs that had come down stream and were stacked against this bridge was incredible. And while some damage had occurred, amazingly, the bridge remained mostly intact.
This story spoke to me on many levels: Nature's power, the resiliency of the bridge under such forces, and how the importance of trail maintenance and budgets for such play such an important role in being able to continue to enjoy hiking to our favorite spots.
After spending several moments simply taking it all in, I dropped my pack and composed a few images of this scene - mostly for the memory. However, they have served me a bigger purpose as well. This particular image is currently being used for a worldwide editorial story on trail repair.
I guess it just goes to show that the road to our destination can be just as important as the destination itself!
If you wish, you may view images from the Wallowa Mountains and Eagle Cap Wilderness in my Wallowas Gallery (Sorry, I don't have a "trail damage" gallery. Maybe I should!)
As always, thanks for looking. Have a great winter and I hope to see you on the trail in the spring!
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