Orinda and Lafayette will be on the path of the American Discovery 250 Relay next month. The American Discovery Trail is the country’s first coast-to-coast trail, and the American Discovery Trail Society decided to mark the country’s 250th anniversary with a relay from America’s most populous state to America’s first state, with the slogan, “One trail, one nation, 250 years in motion.” 

    The relay from California to Delaware will take almost five full months, beginning on July 1 in Point Reyes and ending on Thanksgiving Day in Cape Henlopen, Delaware. It will cover the 6,800-mile trail and cross 15 states.

    Participants in the relay can use any form of non-motorized transport, from walking or running, to bicycles and horses and perhaps even wheelchairs, and will carry three batons containing copies of the Declaration of Independence. 

    Local runner and co-founder of the American Discovery Trail, John Fazel will be participating in the relay across California from Point Reyes to Lake Tahoe.  The first few days of the relay participants will go from Point Reyes to the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge. After crossing the bridge, participants will then cross to Treasure Island by rowing large rowboats across from San Francisco.  They will proceed on the east span of the Bay Bridge to Berkeley.  

    The path will continue up the Berkeley Hills to Inspiration Point, then come down into Orinda, where participants will pass by Wagner Ranch Elementary School and on to Briones Regional Park on the way to Sacramento. From Sacramento the relay will continue to Lake Tahoe, before leaving California. It will take about two weeks to cross California. No one will cover the entire route to Delaware.

    As the trail heads eastward, it divides at Denver and takes two routes to Cincinnati, one more northerly and the other more southerly.  The relay will cover both routes. The daily sections of the relay will be determined based partly on the terrain to be covered. Some segments will be as long as 50-70 miles and therefore more suitable for bicycles. Others will be steep and mountainous and more suitable for walkers and runners.  

    Dave Whitson, who is in charge of the relay, points out that some of the sections are restricted. For example, going through Muir Woods there is a cap providing that only 50 participants may do that section, while only 25 can do the Bay Bridge segment. Thus far Whitson says, nearly 1,000 people have signed up to do the event and some segments are fully booked.

    To find out more about American Discovery Trail and the relay, visit https://discoverytrail.org/america-250-relay where you can also sign up to participate.