Crossing the James River -- in Style

James River Foot Bridge

By Clint Kawanishi
PATH members Vaughn, Doc, the Firebaughs, Robert Rubin, Parthena Martin and I attended the dedication of the James River Foot Bridge on Saturday, October 14, 2000. The bridge is northwest of Lynchburg, Va., where U.S. 501 and VA 1300 intersect. It's an imposing structure, the longest of all National Park Service foot bridges. Crossing it, I contemplated what had been said during the ceremonies about the complexity of the project involving government agencies, companies, the ATC and the Natural Bridge AT Club.

At every roadblock, one person, Bill Foot of the NBATC, was there to energetically cajole, mediate and negotiate to push it forward. I thought of the sheer audacity it took to commit to such a project, and it was immediately apparent to me that this was a Bill Foot-sized project.

We met years ago on a day much like bridge-dedication day -- cool and dry with the leaves starting to display fall colors. Bill, his wife Laurie and daughter were hiking on the AT, just below the summit of Cold Mountain. The couple had thru-hiked the AT and had brought their daughter up there to entice her to hike also. We shared the Cow Camp Gap shelter that evening. I found out Bill was temporarily working in Raleigh. Soon, we were meeting for dinner during the week.

He was such an energetic and can-do person. He spoke to the University Outdoor Club about thru-hiking the AT. He remembered the "trail magic" of his thru-hike and would head out onto the trail to hand out large Snickers candy bars when the wave of new northbound thru-hikers tromped their way into NBATC's section. He loved helping them. I myself have been the recipient of his hospitality.

As I looked at the bridge that he oversaw to the very end of his life, I realized that he continues to do things for the hikers. "His" bridge is making the hike across the James River safer and more beautiful.

With ingenuity, NBATC used a single space and an upper case letter F to sidestep a bureaucratic dissuasion of naming structures after people. It is fitting that instead of being called the James River Footbridge, it is the James River Foot Bridge. You deserve it, my friend!

Jeremy and Karen Firebaugh, Doc Branahm and Vaughn Thomas

Parthena Martin and Clint Kawanishi