Wild Cat Bridge

This is Wild Cat Covered Bridge. It’s located in Oregon’s Coast Range Mountains near tiny Austa, Oregon USA, on the Florence-Eugene highway.

More often that not, covered bridges offer more than just passage over an obstruction. They are a part of Oregon history. Sometimes that history is deeply personal.

I’ve been to zillions of bridges, but got caught off guard at this one.

This bridge is so rural that it’s unclear exactly what its real name is. The sign on the bridge says “Wild Cat” (two words), but everywhere else it says “Wildcat” on maps and such.

If I’m not mistaken, those are two different animals.
I, of course, am afraid of nothing, but if I were, I’d fear a wildcat more than a wild (domestic) cat.

The morning I visited, Wildcat Creek and the next door Siuslaw River were targets for mid-winter fly fishing by the locals. One guy parked his boat at the far side of the bridge.

Like so many other covered bridges I’ve photographed before, I scurried around quickly trying to get the shots I wanted so that I could zip on off to the next bridge.

As I was getting ready to leave I spotted a small, isolated picture stapled inside the housing. In a hurry, I took three shots of it in quick succession without really looking and then off I went.

A week or so later, while image post processing in the middle of the night, I was stunned by the dedication on the picture placed inside Wild Cat Bridge.

“When you loose the person you LOVE
Go to your Happiest Places!”
-Anonymous, January 2016

The picture of the elderly couple itself was taken inside Wild Cat Bridge. They are obviously very much in love. It had been lovingly stapled inside the covered bridge housing less than two month’s after Dick’s passing.

Dick must have been quite a guy! His lady love must be quite a gal!

Final Note:
Only a dork would critique how ‘lose’ is spelled. Don’t be a dork!