Forum Index > Trail Talk > French Creek Bridge Out (Icicle)
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Get Out and Go
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Get Out and Go
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PostWed May 12, 2021 5:35 pm 
Photos from the FS in the link. Not advisable to attempt to ford until water goes down this summer. https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd910644.pdf

"These are the places you will find me hiding'...These are the places I will always go." (Down in the Valley by The Head and The Heart) "Sometimes you're happy. Sometimes you cry. Half of me is ocean. Half of me is sky." (Thanks, Tom Petty)
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timberghost
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PostThu May 13, 2021 6:50 am 
good to hear

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Downhill
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PostThu May 13, 2021 7:23 pm 
The USFS crew was out there repairing/replacing some of the planks, supports, and handrails in the summer of 2019, and although it wasn't in great shape after - it was certainly good for the intended purpose - foot traffic. The main cause of premature wear on this bridge is horse traffic, for which it was never intended or built to withstand. I hike this section of the Icicle trail multiple times a summer and I have seen dozens of horseback riders cross this bridge even though there's a well-marked stock ford just a few yards away. It would be great if the local horse clubs would pony up to help replace this bridge - ideally with a design that makes it impossible for horses to use (like the one across Mountaineer Creek before the Colchuck-Stuart junction). Okay, I'll get off my high horse now.

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Slugman
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PostThu May 13, 2021 7:25 pm 
Pony up. lol.gif

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Bootpathguy
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PostFri May 14, 2021 6:28 am 
Hold Your Horses

Experience is what'cha get, when you get what'cha don't want
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Bedivere
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PostSat May 15, 2021 4:16 pm 
Given the high use and relative proximity of this bridge to the trailhead, I'd imagine the FS will make its repair a priority. That blocks access to a very large and popular area.

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dave allyn
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PostWed May 19, 2021 8:31 am 
I hope the FS makes it a priority but I'm not holding my breath while I wait. I walked up and looked at it yesterday. It appears you could cross on the high side. My buddy and I both tried it for a short ways. We agreed, possible but scary. Much better to wait for low water and Ford.

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timberghost
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PostWed May 19, 2021 8:54 am 
Hopefully this will keep some people out

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dave allyn
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PostWed May 17, 2023 10:18 am 
Walked out there yesterday. 1 log left of the bridge with a few planks still hanging. A brave and foolish person could possibly walk it, a slip would be fatal. There were several stakes with orange paint, one next to a rebar stake with a cap. I assume someone fron the FS has been there and it may get replaced someday. Walked upstream to the log jam. Most of it is gone but there is a large log between the end of the log jam and the opposite bank. Once again, it would be possible for a brave and foolish person to cross, with certain death the result of a slip. Walked (bushwacked) upstream another 1/4 mile or so and saw no sign of any other potential crossings. I'm hoping for a prompt replacement. Water is absolutely raging right now.

RichP
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zimmertr
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PostWed May 17, 2023 10:35 am 
timberghost wrote:
Hopefully this will keep some people out
Lame. down.gif
dave allyn wrote:
Walked out there yesterday. 1 log left of the bridge with a few planks still hanging. A brave and foolish person could possibly walk it, a slip would be fatal. There were several stakes with orange paint, one next to a rebar stake with a cap. I assume someone fron the FS has been there and it may get replaced someday. Walked upstream to the log jam. Most of it is gone but there is a large log between the end of the log jam and the opposite bank. Once again, it would be possible for a brave and foolish person to cross, with certain death the result of a slip. Walked (bushwacked) upstream another 1/4 mile or so and saw no sign of any other potential crossings. I'm hoping for a prompt replacement. Water is absolutely raging right now. .
I'm sure the river is incredibly dangerous right now from the snow melt but I crossed the horse ford last August and it was ankle deep and easy. Probably easily crossable for most of the season.

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dave allyn
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PostFri May 19, 2023 8:36 am 
Photos from the other day.

RichP, ALW Hiker, zimmertr
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Backpacker Joe
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PostTue May 30, 2023 8:41 am 
Double bummer!

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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HitTheTrail
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PostWed Jul 05, 2023 3:03 pm 
Leafguy and I wanted to stretch our legs after all of the 4th of July BBQ's, etc. so we decided to take a hike up the main Icicle trail to check out the logjam crossing French Creek about 1/3 of a mile upstream from the collapsed bridge. It seems that the logs on the far end have been washed down river leaving a gap of flowing water between the end of the logs and the bank. This photo does not show it well but it is too big of a gap to jump across. But the point is becoming less significant since the river level is dropping low enough to easily ford.
Confluence of French Cr. and Icicle River now.
Confluence of French Cr. and Icicle River now.
Logjam last year was easily crossed.
Logjam last year was easily crossed.
Now the logjam has a sizable gap at the far end.
Now the logjam has a sizable gap at the far end.

jaysway, Cyclopath, zimmertr
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Leafguy
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PostWed Jul 05, 2023 8:06 pm 
And we saw some out of towners in the lot that actually knew there was good hiking up the Icicle besides the Enchantments and Colchuck. up.gif

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