NOTE: This story was published in the Feb. 9, 2023 installment of our new Gig Harbor Now news column. The topic, crossing the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, was originally published here on the blog in 2022, and then updated for the newspaper.
Being from Southern California, I’ve never lived in a town with bridges before. You know, besides the concrete jungle freeway overpass variety. But I’ve always been wowed by crossings that span a divide. And the surprisingly long, green-tone Tacoma Narrows Bridge, with its harrowing “Galloping Gertie” backstory, is no exception.
Walking across the bridge was something I wanted to do since the moment we first ooh’d and aah’d over its tall towers and great swooping cables upon moving here. From the road, I’d seen how to walk across it from the Tacoma side (more on that below), but not from the Gig Harbor side. So that’s what Clara, Wyatt, and I set out to do.