Long Suspension Bridge
In Vancouver, Canada I
could not resist walking across the longest suspension bridge in the world. At 230-feet
above the rushing Capilano River the 450-foot long bridge swayed with dizzying
vigor. The wind swooped down to snare a man’s hat off his head carrying it like
a floating balloon over the valley.
The setting for this steel
suspension bridge is in a temperate rain forest in British Columbia, Canada. Many timid visitors watched as others stepped
onto and walked drunkenly across the ravine. I compared it much like walking on
a tightrope.
A Scotsman by the name of Mackay was so impressed with the
beauty of the area that in 1888 he bought 6000 acres spanning both sides of the
river. The following year he suspended a
hemp rope and cedar plank footbridge across the deep ravine.
The bridge became quite an
attraction and in 1903 a more secure wire bridge was built. Over the century
the bridge was sold four times and the fourth and present steel cable bridge
was built in 1956 with 13 tons of concrete firmly anchoring the cables in place
on each end of the bridge. In 1962 hurricane
Freda uprooted 82 large trees in the park with eight of them falling on the
footbridge, but caused no damage!
On the other side of the swaying bridge I hiked several of the nature
trails through the rainforest. Excellent interpretive signs, with delightful
imaginative art work were informative. On successive trips to Vancouver I
always make my way to Capilano to again cross the bridge.
On one trip there was a story pole carver on the premises who was
happy to answer questions and explain his craft and the history of story poles.
With no wind blowing it
is quite an easy walk. No matter what the
weather, the lovely park-like forest on the far side is worth the walk, swaying
and wobbly or not.
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