Olympic National Park: “Press Expedition” begins its trek across Olympics today

Published 12:01 am Monday, August 20, 2001

“A Press Expedition” is under way this morning, marking the official beginning of an event that’s been more than a year in the making.

Thirteen adventurers — 10 journalists, a chef, a tourism executive and a park ranger — headed out from the Whiskey Bend trailhead to retrace the 1889 Press Expedition, an event sanctioned by the now-defunct Seattle Press to discover the mysteries of the previously unknown interior of the Olympic Peninsula — which is now Olympic National Park wilderness.

In 1889, the now-defunct Seattle Press commissioned a group of explorers to map, photograph and collect information about the interior of the Peninsula.

Six men — John W. Sims, Harris B. Runnalls, Charles A. Barnes, James H. Christie, John H. Crumback and Chris O. Hayes — began the journey in the dead of winter.

They arrived in Aberdeen on May 21, 1890.

The latter-day “Press Expedition” members plan to finish their journey in five days.

Roger Harnack, Peninsula Daily News local news editor, is one of the latter-day “Press Expedition” starting today. Packing a laptop computer and a satellite telephone, he plans to file daily reports from the scene, which the PDN will publish as a series beginning Tuesday.

This full report appears in today’s Peninsula Daily News. Click on “Subscribe” to order your PDN delivered to your home or office.