Fortunately the solution was standing right beside the fast-flowing mountain stream.
And it was big, too.
Fixing the problem required toppling several tons of Douglas-fir in dangerously steep terrain and then wrestling the obstinate mass into place.
All this in a spot where winter is the longest season.
Little wonder that constructing a new bridge across BC Creek, along the Chief Joseph Mountain trail, spanned parts of two years.
The single-log bridge, with hefty rails on each side, was finished Saturday, May 22.
Its completion gives hikers an easier, and safer, route to one of the grandest vistas in the Wallowas, from the shoulder of Chief Joseph Mountain.
Former Chief Jeffrey Roosa, pictured in 2013
Credit Jim Levulis / WAMC
A father of three, Roosa was named chief in 2013 and retired in January of this year.
Roosa was among 70 candidates who vied for the position of chief, after the ouster of former Chief Joseph Buffis.
A Berkshire County native, Roosa began his law enforcement career with the Sheffield Police Department before returning to serve his hometown of Lee in 2001. He was promoted to sergeant in February 2012 and was named chief in December of the following year.
Among those mourning the former chief is Massachusetts State Representative “Smitty” Pignatelli.
“The thing about I admired the most about him was that he never shied away from this horrific disease,” Pignatelli told WAMC. “It still has no cure. He was very open about it. And just a few weeks ago I saw him at a very public event and he never shied away from it. He embraced it. The community has reached out and just loved him so much.”