LaPlatte Crossing footbridge

02/02/2025

What's that instrument Strömkarlen is playing up in the tree at the bridge?
It's a Hardanger fiddle.
Here's a hardanger tune (she's not a troll, but maybe he is).

Espen Wensaas on citternThea Tunås Bratteng on hardingfeleSpringar from Hallingdal, Norway on "ljøsblått" tuning.Recorded in Oslo on the 4th of august 2023.

11/19/2024

There's a new troll at the LaPlatte Crossing footbridge.

Strömkarlen is a river troll in Scandinavian folklore. If you listen carefully, you might hear Strömkarlen play his hardanger fiddle. And if you look closely, you can see that his fiddle has four extra strings that resonate the sound in a special way. When he plays, the music of the forest, the trees and birds, wind and water, dance over his fiddle strings.

It is said that when he gets to playing, “tables and benches, cups and cans, gray-beards and grandmothers, blind and lame, even babies in the cradle will begin to dance.”(Jacob Grimm)

There is some old magic in Strömkarlen. If you leave him a small offering, he might play a tune for you on his fiddle. If your offering is grand, he will run your fingers over the strings of his fiddle and you will be able to play so well the trees dance and the river sings and the waterfall pauses to listen.
Strömkarlen, guardian of the river crossing

Strömkarlen is a river troll in Scandinavian folklore. If you listen carefully, you might hear Strömkarlen play his hardanger fiddle. And if you look closely, you can see that his fiddle has four extra strings that resonate the sound in a special way. When he plays, the music of the forest, the trees and birds, wind and water, dance over his fiddle strings.

It is said that when he gets to playing, “tables and benches, cups and cans, gray-beards and grandmothers, blind and lame, even babies in the cradle will begin to dance.”(Jacob Grimm)

There is some old magic in Strömkarlen. If you leave him a small offering, he might play a tune for you on his fiddle. If your offering is grand, he will run your fingers over the strings of his fiddle and you will be able to play so well the trees dance and the river sings and the waterfall pauses to listen.

10/13/2024

a sound and light nighttime immersive experience
that re-imagines the story of Peter Pan
October 18-19-20 October 25-26
Groups leave every 15 minutes
More information and tickets at Treewild.org/Borderlands

07/13/2024

A few minor repairs, but holding strong.

07/13/2024

Record high water on the LaPlatte River. Troll bridge holding strong.

05/30/2024

04/10/2024

If you don't want to keep (all) your eclipse glasses, Astronomers without Borders is collecting them to send to schools in Argentina for the next eclipse!
AstronomersWithoutBorders.org

09/25/2021

A new "stream crossing" on the east bank LaPlatte loop trail. Thanks to Scott Hardy and Joplin Wistar. We're calling it Ragtime Crossing. Get it?

04/16/2021

Students from Treewild Forest classroom hauled in 100 black willow rods to root along the banks of the LaPlatte River to stabilize the area around the LaPlatte Crossing suspension footbridge.

02/27/2020

Some say they've seen a troll down at the river looking after the bridge, but until recently he's been very elusive. Now there's proof; they say he is very friendly, yet his name is Agnar the Fierce.

11/04/2019

Friday morning at the LaPlatte Crossing, but the bridge stood up to the test of historic peak flood level. Only minor damage that has already been repaired.
Thanks to Dave King and others who reset the ramp and the 25 sections of puncheon boardwalk that were snatched by the flood waters.

07/15/2019

Our engineer, Scott Silverstein, completed the first annual bridge inspection and reported that the footbridge weathered its first winter and spring floods. He noted a few minor repairs that should be completed and a couple things to keep an eye on, but generally pleased with its condition. Check out the awesome aerial photos of the bridge below, thanks to Josh Halberg.
If you ventured down there this spring you probably noticed that the access trail on the west side was quite muddy or even flooded for much of the spring. Although it seemed to be particularly wet this year, it is normal for much of the spring in the LaPlatte floodplain.
Dave King, who worked extensively on the bridge construction, has proposed the installation of trail puncheon through the section that is especially muddy. The plan is to install the puncheon similar to the photo below, using 12' live edge 2' x 8' supported by 4x4 at the ends and the middle, but we'll need some volunteers and contributions to purchase the materials needed as there is no town funding available.

We're planning to have Clifford lumber deliver the Hemlock boards to the trailhead behind the Shelburne Market on Friday, July 26. On Saturday morning, we'll cut the 4x4 to length and then we'll need a crew to carry the boards to site to attach and install.
We hope to construct 25 12' sections to span the muddiest portion of the floodplain between the bridge and the Shelburne Market trailhead, so it's a big job and it would be great to have an enthusiastic crew.

If you can help out on Saturday, 7/27, we look forward to hearing from you (feel free to invite others that might be interested). The estimated cost for the project is $1000 for lumber and hardware. All the costs for the bridge and the annual inspection have been covered with the support of private donations, but our account with Local Motion only has a current balance of $395. The agreement with the town when the permit was issued for the bridge was that a balance of $1000 would be kept for the foreseeable annual engineer inspections and unforeseen maintenance.
We need to raise $1000 for the trail improvement project and at least $605 to maintain the LaPlatte Crossing maintenance fund.
Donations can be made through Local Motion -> Localmotion.org/4216_laplatte_river_footbridge_fundraiser.

Please indicate if you have a preference for your donation to go to the trail improvement project or the footbridge maintenance fund.