Hiking on the Olympic Peninsula: First, The Glass Museum

Hiking the Columbia River Gorge with Country Walkers, traversing live volcanoes, walking on Mt. St. Helens, all made such an impression on me that I decide to return to Washington.  This time I'll join a group in the Olympic Peninsula, once again with Country Walkers (www.countrywalkers.com).

 
We meet in Seattle to begin our trip to Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.  Before leaving city life behind, our guides take us to the Museum of Glass to see the Chihuly Bridge of Glass. While it isn’t the rustic start you might expect to a hiking trip, it *is* quite a sight.

Dale Chihuly, originally from Tacoma, Washington, is a famous glass sculptor whose work has earned an extraordinary reputation.    His creations are spectacular--that really is the best word.  Working with the Museum and the support of the city of Tacoma, Chihuly designed a five-hundred foot pedestrian ‘glass bridge’ that connects the museum to downtown.

The bridge has three parts: the ceiling is a ‘Seaform Pavilion’ that holds over 2,000 of Chihuly’s works.

Seaform Pavilion (ceiling) gives the visitor a feeling of walking beneath the ocean

The artist’s pieces are on a a glass ceiling, and the light passing through the glass to the visitors below creates an almost other-worldly sense of a colorful subaquatic walk.

 
Sixty-three crystal towers, reflecting natural light,  rise forty feet above the deck of the bridge--the pedestrian overpass-- that links the museum to the city’s central area.  Daylight reflects on and shines through the colorful pillars,  and illumination from the bottom of the towers adds to the their depth and character.

One of sixty-three crystal towers on the bridge

  

The ‘Venetian Wall’ is closest to the Museum.  This displays over 100 of Chihuly’s pieces from three different series:  Venetians, Ikebana, and Putti.  The beautiful glass art highlights the change we’re about to make, from city and man-made art to the natural beauty of a temperate rain forest.

Venetian Wall

  

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I regret that none of my photos accurately reflect the unique beauty of Chihuly’s work. To learn more, please visit https://museumofglass.org/outdoor-art/chihuly-bridge-of-glassmuseumofglass.org/ 

 and  http://www.chihuly.com/learnhttp://www.chihuly.com/learn