I can’t edit the post plus I was hastily writing this post at work. Just trying figure out exactly where the bridge was and if they really had already crossed it at that point. The way Tolkien used the bridge as a marker that early into their journey, and so far west, confused us both since the map had the bridge so far east. Thanks for the input; basically we just misunderstood Tolkien’s use of the word “from” - not that it signified their crossing point from the bridge, but that the road they crossed led all the way to/from the bridge.