Trail record set by couple

A California couple became the first people to continuously hike the four longest trails in the United States when they reached Point Reyes National Seashore on Sunday following a 231-day, 4,921-mile coast-to-coast trek they described as “their hardest journey.”

Ken and Marcia Powers of Pleasanton endured deep snow in West Virginia, floodwaters in rural Ohio, torrential rains in Kansas and 114-degree heat in Utah since their Feb. 27 departure from Delaware’s Cape Henlopen State Park.

They rested four days and averaged 21.3 miles a day on the American Discovery Trail, a cross-country route created in 1990 that winds through national parks, cities and historical monuments.

They had previously hiked the Appalachian, Pacific Crest and Continental Divide trails.

“It was the hardest journey we’ve done,” says Marcia Powers, 57. “Some days it was trail hiking, others it was city hiking, some days desert hiking. There was no rhythm because things changed on a daily basis.”

For Ken Powers, 60, the highlight of this journey was “seeing the history that we learned in grammar school and seeing that come to life.”

In all, they’ve hiked more than 13,000 miles in 30 states.

“When you look at those statistics, it looks like we took a car trip,” says Marcia. “But we were actually in immediate contact with the forests, the changing color and texture of the soil.”

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Scott Doggett