Great Pumpkin
Member
In addition to the information contained in Spaderman's excellent post, please note that the footbridge at 1.7 miles referenced in both the AMC Guide and the Smith/Dickerman book is gonzo. I don't know if this happened recently with the torrential rains, but the bridge was there when last I hiked this trail in 2006, and it's not there now. The crossing at this point was not difficult, using stones and poles, but to characterize same as "graceful" (at least in my case) would certainly be a stretch! 
