A wonderful story of visionary thinking and volunteer effort to build a new trail from the valley to the Sierras.
A bridge built of dreams
By M.S. Enkoji - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, June 14, 2007
For more than a decade, it was a bridge too far.
The ambitious dream of a 100-mile trail rising into the Sierra from the heart of the Central Valley hinged on the trail spanning 140 feet of rugged river gorge.
Mark Holland, who shepherded a monumental volunteer effort lasting 11 years, remembers standing over Big Sandy Creek in Fresno County, gazing at the task ahead.
"What I saw was a difficult project," said Holland, who would go through four mountain bikes and see his son advance from grade school to college before Big Sandy Bridge was built.
The effort -- by a few mules and volunteers donating the equivalent of 512 workdays -- ended over the weekend when three sections of a steel bridge were clanked into place, linking 18 miles that make up the lower leg of the San Joaquin River Trail.
