We were spread out, walking through heavy brush along the route of a long-defunct power line between the old Swan Falls Dam and Silver City, when someone shouted, “Here’s a pole and cross-arm!”

I rushed over to where he was and sure enough, he had come upon a pole top with the cross-arm mounted on it. This great discovery, which confirmed much about the design of a power line more than a century old, was one of many our team at Boise’s Northwest Lineman College has made over twenty-nine expeditions, during which we have covered the entire twenty-seven miles of line from Swan Falls to Silver City. Continue reading →