Here’s a few of the bridges we paddled under while on the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers. I always looked forward to getting to a bridge. You could see many of them from miles away, but paddling close to them gave me a better perspective of the size of those things.
It was always cool to go under a bridge and watch the swallows fly out. Bridges were big honking landmarks that helped us keep track of the miles. Bridges sheltered us from both screaming thunderstorms and oppressive heat.
Yeah, I’m a huge fan of bridges.
At 2:40 That’s the Eads Bridge in my hometown of St. Louis.
When completed in 1874, the Eads Bridge was the longest arch bridge in the world, with an overall length of 6,442 feet
James – thanks for the info. That’s cool stuff to know!
At the Chain of Rocks in St. Louis, we ended up portaging on river right. For the briefest of moments, I tried to sell Jess on us ferrying all the way across the river and seeing what the left side looked like instead. That failed in a big way, as she reminded me that:
1) it was at least 1/2 mile across to the other side
2) if we didn’t hit the ferry right, we’d get swept right in the middle of the rapids with a full canoe, no spray skirt, and nothing tied in.
That pretty much ended my bright idea.