Justice served: Memories shared of historic hike on Peninsula’s Pacific coast led by William O. Douglas

Published 4:06 am Sunday, June 1, 2008

PORT ANGELES — Highways and dams came in waves through the 1950s and ’60s, choking rivers and cutting into mountainsides.

A few believed that the way to stop this was to put soles onto sand.

Fifty years ago, a few dozen men and women set out on the coast of Olympic National Park for a hike that would alter the history of the state and nation.

In “The Hike that Saved the Coast,” a free presentation at Peninsula College Friday night, two of the women on that wind-washed outing in August 1958 shared their fond memories, and a still-bright belief in the value of wilderness.