American Discovery Trail starts on the Atlantic Ocean and ends at the Pacific at Point Reyes National Seashore. Every summer a few brave souls attempt to hike the whole distance — and the few who pass our way see some of our favorite Bay Area locales (including Mount Diablo State Park and Briones Regional Park on my side of the Bay.)

The ADT in California traverses some of our finest terrain, starting on the Tahoe Rim Trail and working its way down the Sierra slope through Auburn to the Delta and on to the East Bay.

Bay Area hikers Ken and Marcia Powers were the first to through-hike all 4900 miles of the ADT in 2005. (They’re hiking the Idaho Centennial Trail right now).

Robin Grapa, who hiked the whole trail with her mom in 2006 to raise money for bone marrow disease, is still updating her blog. A few of my hearty regular readers will remember Two-Heel Drive posts tracking her progress. I remember thinking she had no idea what she was in for but found myself rooting for her to make it the whole way.

Amazon sells American Discoveries: Scouting the First Coast-To-Coast Recreational Trail by Ellen Dudley and Eric Seaborg, an account of their scouting mission to create the trail. More on the history of the trail at this link.

The ADT represents the entirety of our country. Nothing more patriotic than putting in a few miles on it, if there’s a stretch nearby.