PLEASANTON
— When Ken and Marcia Powers retired 11 years ago, they figured their
golden years would be spent seeing the country. That plan didn't include a
bulky RV.
Instead, the married couple of 42 years opened the front door and went for a walk. More than a decade later, they're still walking.
Ken Powers, a retired database analyst for Chevron, and Marcia, a retired flute instructor, have logged 17,000 miles through 32 states, including an eight-month, 4,900-mile cross-country hike from Cape Henlopen, Del., to Point Reyes Station in 2005.
"We flew out east and decided to walk home," Ken Powers said of the trip, for which they became the first known people to hike the American Discovery Trail in a continuous outing. The couple have completed more than 10 hiking expeditions since their retirement, including conquering the Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and American Discovery trails.
They didn't acquire their affection for outdoor journeys until their sons, now 32 and 31, were out of the house. Ken took the boys on occasional hikes for Boy Scouts and Marcia ran the trails overlooking Pleasanton, but there were no thousand-mile, monthlong expeditions.
It wasn't until they hiked Mount Whitney shortly before retirement that the hiking seed was planted. It bloomed during the couples' first excursion on the Pacific Crest Trail that was supposed to give them time to talk about what they were going to do in retirement. Halfway into the 2,650-mile trip, they had found their calling.
"We
have seen a lot of the United States without doing it an RV," Ken said.
"We are seeing it up close and personal."
At 2 p.m. today at the Pleasanton Library, the power-walking couple will share the details of a trailblazing trip they took last summer. Ken, 65, and Marcia, 62, were among the first to hike the Idaho Centennial Trail, a nearly 1,000-mile journey that began in southern Idaho's Murphy Hot Springs and concluded a month and a half later in Nordman, near the northern Idaho-Washington border.
The couple will discuss one of the toughest hikes they have encountered and detail trekking through two of the largest wilderness areas in the contiguous United States, including the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. The journey featured hard-to-find trails, thick forest and ranches with airplane landing strips in the middle of nowhere.
"We got to be the explorers," Marcia Powers said.
That earned them a nod in the California Outdoor Hall of Fame, to which they were inducted in January. But with that explorer role also comes a great deal of the unexpected.
The Idaho Centennial Trail is mapped for just about 800 miles, but when the couple set out, they found out it was 200 miles longer.
"Part of the excitement of hiking is you never know what is going to happen," Marcia said. "You plan, plan, plan and then you have to be willing to let go."
Preparation for their expeditions includes mailing prepacked boxes of food and supplies to spots along their route to restock their backpacks. While traveling, they carry the necessities, with their packs weighing from 17 to 27 pounds.
"You don't need all the suburban trappings that you have," Marcia said. "We don't need all the material things that we worked for. You can live with a very minimalist lifestyle that is better for the Earth."
Robert Jordan covers Dublin and Pleasanton. Contact him at 925-847-2184.
|
A hiking they will go Photos: Cindi Christie/CC Times Staff |
