Yoga with polar bears, and other adventures along Cochrane, Ont.'s ice bridge

There is only one ice bridge on Ontario's provincial highway network, and for the past 50 years it has stretched 210 metres across the Abitibi River, northwest of Cochrane, Ont.

CBC outdoor columnist Bill Steer explored the winter bridgeand came back with his impressions of the structure.

Click here to listen to more ofBackroadsBill's adventures in the north

The bridge is built every winter by contractor Maurice Robin, who without any manual to guide him supports the bridge with steel cables that are about 4 centimetres in diameter, andstrung between layers of "beautiful blue ice."

South of the bridge, in Cochrane, Steer says that polar bears can frolic in their natural habitat. And the centre provides yoga classes every morning, where yoga practitioners can stretch while the bears roam behind them.

• Cochrane, Ont. polar bears walk on ice for the first time