by Ellen Roberts
SMITH LAKE’S FAMOUS ROMANCE
KURT & CATHY BOWDEN Guess who we found, happily married…ironically living on Smith Lake? None other than the Big Bridge legends themselves, Kapt. Kurt and Cathy Bowden. They are the two behind the now infamous “KAPT. KURT-N-CATHY 1995” mural on Smith Lake’s very wellknown bridge, Big Bridge, overlooking the main channel of Ryan Creek. For decades Big Bridge has attracted adrenaline junkies who swing, jump and hang from the high ledges of its sides. “We used to do the big swing trapeze off the bottom of the bridge and do back flips off the top of the bridge,” Kurt said. “You had to walk the ledge to get to the swing.” Kurt and his buddies would stand on the ledge, grasp the rope, swing down towards the water, up into the underbody of the bridge, swing backwards up into the air and let go for a back flip dismount. This was not your modern day bridge swing. This was old-school, dangerous, crazy, and only for the truly adventurous. It was known to locals as “The Death Swing.”
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