Olympic National Park: Rangers begin search for missing hiker

Published 12:01 am Wednesday, September 14, 2005

PENINSULA DAILY NEWS

OLYMPIC HOT SPRINGS — Olympic National Park rangers will begin searching at 7 a.m. today for a hiker missing since Monday.

Brian D. Gawley, 39, of Port Angeles entered the park to do high-altitude training for a marathon he hoped to run next month in Lake Tahoe, Nev.

His car was found Tuesday afternoon at the Appleton Pass trailhead at the end of Olympic Hot Springs road.

Gawley is a reporter for Peninsula Daily News.

Rangers will start their efforts with a “hasty search,”‘ a quick exploration of the trail by six to eight searchers, they said.

Three containment personnel will remain at trailheads to interview anyone emerging from the wilderness.

The searchers also will use two teams of bloodhounds. Total, about 20 park employees will be involved in the search.

Efforts to find Gawley began when he did not report for work on Tuesday.