SG065 - Walking the Plank Traditional Geocache

This is an easy cache to take you on the return loop to Smith via the low road.  This is an elk corridor and there are frequent sightings in the field to the south of you.  It is however private land so please do not cross the fence line.  Come around hunting season the elk probably feel a lot like the children walking the plank did - or their parents.

The yellow Smith River Bridge is one of our local landmarks.  This is a story about the bridge that will make modern parents shudder.  We have all heard our grandparents talk about how they walked 5 miles in blinding snowstorms to get to school.  Well how about if you had to walk the plank. Some of the children attending the Smith School in the 1970's did.

Little has changed on the bridge since 1944 but repairs do need to be made occasionally and that generally involves replacement of the wooden planks.  Nowadays they shut down access to the bridge during the hours it is least used and replace a portion of the planking.  In the 70's, however, they were more enthusiastic and removed major portions of the decking at a time.  

The school bus dropped the kids from the north side of the river off at the bridge.  From there they crossed the bridge on a 2 x 12 planks, got onto a bus on the south side and carried on their day.