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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 2022
Bridge opens over Columbia River
By TOM BANSE
Northwest News Network
The Columbia River has long divided
the two halves of Washington’s cross-state
Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail. Now,
a rebuilt rail trestle over the river south of
Vantage connects the two sides making it
easier for cyclists, horse riders and hik-
ers to undertake a spectacular east-west
journey.
The Palouse to Cascades Trail stretches
for 285 miles from the outskirts of North
Bend to the Idaho border, including a 2.5
mile tunnel under the Cascade Crest. Fred
Wert, of Winthrop, has traversed the full
length once and biked and walked it in sec-
tions many times. He sometimes calls it
the “invisible trail” because it is not well
known.
“I try to tell people this is a secret way
to get across the state,” Wert said. “One
of the beauties of it, it’s away from every-
thing else in general. It’s open year-round.
It goes from the deep forest to the wheat-
lands of the Palouse. It’s a challenging, but
fascinating journey to take.”
The mostly gravel rail trail still has a
bunch of gaps necessitating detours. The
wide Columbia River presented one of
the most troublesome barriers for trail rid-
ers because the next closest public cross-
ing was the Interstate 90 Vantage Bridge,
which has no sidewalk or shoulders.
Through-hikers and riders typically would
need to hitch a ride in a vehicle to get
across.
“A lot of people stopped at the Colum-
bia River,” Wert said in at the foot of the
refurbished Beverly Bridge. “The fact that
this is open will make a big diff erence.”
Wert leads the nonprofi t Palouse to
Cascades Trail Coalition to promote this
long-distance route and advocate for
improvements. He and several hundred
other outdoor enthusiasts gathered on the
trail last week to celebrate one of their big-
gest victories yet, the opening of the rebuilt
trestle over the Columbia.
A marching band led the crowd on a
ceremonial fi rst crossing of the Beverly
Bridge. The Wahluke High School band
played for a while because the bridge
is nearly two-thirds of a mile long. The
dedication event took place in blustery
weather that forced the dignitaries on stage
to clutch their speaking notes tightly and
sent numerous ballcaps fl ying in the direc-
tion of the looming brown cliff s of Senti-
nel Gap.
“I’m very excited to see this. This is
something we’ve been working for years
on,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said.
Tom Banse/Northwest News Network
Riders cross the newly rebuilt Beverly Bridge on the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail.
“This is a national asset.”
“The lands you’re walking across, the
water, is still sacred to our people,” said
Lela Buck, a tribal representative from the
nearby Wanapum village. “As you take
your animals, as you take your bikes, as
you take your feet across this bridge, con-
tinue to remember that this here is a place
that continues to connect us to who we
are.”
“The idea is a trail all the way to the
Pacifi c Ocean — the Idaho line to the
Pacifi c cross-state trail,” former Washing-
ton Secretary of State Ralph Munro said
when his turn came to speak.
“We’re getting closer and closer with
segments here and there,” the 78-year-
old Munro said with rising enthusiasm.
“Everybody keep it on, don’t give up. You
better do it soon or I’m going to be dead!”
Munro played a role in the early 1980s
along with the Back Country Horsemen
of Washington and many others in getting
the state to acquire the right-of-way aban-
doned by the bankrupt Milwaukee Road
railroad. The Beverly Bridge was com-
pleted in 1909 by the railroad to connect
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul to the
Pacifi c terminus in Tacoma.
The rails-to-trails conversion was orig-
inally called the John Wayne Pioneer Trail
and Iron Horse State Park. The state parks
commission renamed the route in 2018 to
the more descriptive Palouse to Cascades
State Park Trail.
“This has been the highlight of my
career,” said Adam Fulton, the project
manager on the Beverly Bridge rehabil-
itation for Washington State Parks. He
is moving right along to work on replac-
ing a double trestle over a creek 10 miles
to the east. The trestles burned down in a
wildfi re.
The Washington Legislature last month
approved $2 million to reconstruct the
Crab Creek Trestle. Much farther east, the
2020 Babb fi re burnt three other bridges
near the small town of Malden, requiring
trail users to use roads until the state parks
department can complete repairs.
On another chunk of the route in Grant
and Adams counties, riders must detour
onto rural roads and a state highway
because a short line railroad is still actively
using the rails there. Elsewhere, priorities
include improving the trail surface and
providing restrooms in more places.
“There’s a few missing pieces — own-
ership, some bridges are being replaced,
trestles being replaced,” Fulton said in.
“By and large, it’s all ready to go. There are
plenty of walk-arounds and workarounds.”
Refashioning the century-old Bev-
erly Bridge cost $5.5 million dollars. It
also cost one construction worker his life.
Gabriel Zelaya, 39, died last August when
he fell from the bridge approximately 60
feet to the ground. The Washington State
Department of Labor & Industries fi ned
contractor Boss Construction more than
a quarter-million dollars in January for
“egregious serious willful” safety viola-
tions that the agency said led to the work-
er’s death. The Bellingham-based contrac-
tor is appealing the agency’s judgment.
Next month, an equestrian group named
the John Wayne Pioneer Wagons and Rid-
ers Association will repeat their annual
cross-state trail ride for the 41st time. Vet-
eran rider and association president Tom
Short, 80, of Woodinville, plans to bring
a team of horses pulling an open carriage.
“We are looking so forward this year to
this because we’ll come down off that hill,
we’ll see the river and we will just keep
going all the way to Beverly,” Short said in
the warm afterglow of the bridge dedica-
tion. “It will be so awesome.”
“I predict in 10 years, you’ll have fam-
ilies — multi-age families — doing a two
week summer vacation going from North
Bend to Idaho and camping along the
way,” Short continued.
Short said the attraction of the Palouse
to Cascades trail for him is going through
almost all the ecosystems, geology and
weather of Washington state as well as
enjoying small town hospitality and his-
tory along the way. On horseback, the
through ride takes about 12 days with shut-
tles around the gaps, not counting rest days.
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