STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Hundreds of hikers and bikers found themselves in a quandary this holiday weekend at the very popular Greenhorn trailhead after the Ketchum Ranger District removed one of the bridges just south of the parking lot.

The bridge, which provides ready access to the Imperial Gulch-Greenhorn Loop and the shorter Greenhorn Loop, was tipped sideways by the force of deep snows and/or snowmelt this winter.

It seemed stable enough for cautious crossings but the Ranger District deemed it unsafe. The current crossing, however, is swift and over a foot deep with a steep bank, which is causing problems for some mountain bikers and hikers, especially those with dogs on leashes.

Ketchum Ranger District Trail Crew Justin Blackstead, who is responsible for the bridge, could not be reached Monday. And he may not be reachable for a couple weeks, according to a spokesperson for the Ranger District.

He and his trail crew have been busy this summer, removing 586 trees from trails and installing or maintaining 477 trail water drains. They’ve also cleared encroaching plants from 8,515 feet of trail and repaired 4,970 feet of trail tread.

Some of the trails they have cleared recently include the Alden Gulch Trail, Apollo Creek Trail, Osberg Ridgeline Trail and Norton-Miner Canyon Trail. Dr. Alison Kinsler and other trail bikers have removed numerous downed trees and cleared slides on the Greenhorn trails.