Post by jdk610 on Jul 8, 2017 11:07:59 GMT -5
The Press Traverse is a relatively well-known north-south route across the Olympic Mountains, first completed by European explorers in 1890. These explorers were sponsored by the Seattle Press, and therefore their trip was called the Press Expedition, and their route became known as the Press Traverse. It took the original Press Expedition six months to blaze a trail through the heart of the Olympics.
The modern Press Traverse is 45-50 miles long, with 7200 – 9100 ft of elev gain (GPS vs. Strava). Low Divide is the highest point on the route, at an elevation of ~3650 ft. This makes the Press Traverse a great choice during a year like this, with the high country buried under a healthy snowpack. That said, there are several river fords along the Press Traverse that can be tricky, especially in the midst of early summer run-off. In addition, thanks to the long winter, the higher sections of the route are still holding snow, even though they are at a relatively low elevation.
Lindsay Tucker and I did the Press Traverse in one day (19 hrs 42 min) on Monday June 12, 2017. Prior to that, there was only one recorded fastest known time (FKT) for this route, as described here. To the best of our knowledge, no other women have attempted an FKT on this route; therefore, we believe we set the women’s FKT for the Press Traverse. Lindsay and I both agree that this is a relatively soft time that could easily be beaten in better conditions (lower water levels, less snow) or with more knowledge of the route. Strava link here.
More details and lots of pics at evergreenendurance.com/2017/06/16/the-press-traverse-womens-fkt/
Update: just recently, Tony Hawkes contacted me and mentioned he is going to attempt an FKT on July 11, as described here.
I'm hoping that PB or another site admin can consolidate all of our threads! Thanks in advance!
The modern Press Traverse is 45-50 miles long, with 7200 – 9100 ft of elev gain (GPS vs. Strava). Low Divide is the highest point on the route, at an elevation of ~3650 ft. This makes the Press Traverse a great choice during a year like this, with the high country buried under a healthy snowpack. That said, there are several river fords along the Press Traverse that can be tricky, especially in the midst of early summer run-off. In addition, thanks to the long winter, the higher sections of the route are still holding snow, even though they are at a relatively low elevation.
Lindsay Tucker and I did the Press Traverse in one day (19 hrs 42 min) on Monday June 12, 2017. Prior to that, there was only one recorded fastest known time (FKT) for this route, as described here. To the best of our knowledge, no other women have attempted an FKT on this route; therefore, we believe we set the women’s FKT for the Press Traverse. Lindsay and I both agree that this is a relatively soft time that could easily be beaten in better conditions (lower water levels, less snow) or with more knowledge of the route. Strava link here.
More details and lots of pics at evergreenendurance.com/2017/06/16/the-press-traverse-womens-fkt/
Update: just recently, Tony Hawkes contacted me and mentioned he is going to attempt an FKT on July 11, as described here.
I'm hoping that PB or another site admin can consolidate all of our threads! Thanks in advance!
