Jeremy Gaston
Staff Writer

OSAGE CITY—Lory Mitchell and John Wingate, Ft. Worth, reached Osage City on Thursday, July 17, on their 5,000-mile trek down the American Discovery Trail (ADT).

The couple was joined by a pair of friends as they crossed through east-central Kansas. They began their day just east of town, and had a chance to visit with the morning coffee group at the Rosemary Inn in Osage City.

“It was great to talk with them,” Mitchell said. “Osage City was a great town to walk through with our visitors.”

“We enjoyed the visit, but had to move on,” Wingate said.

The hikers continued west out of Osage City, where they came upon the picturesque landscapes of the Questas and the Flint Hills.

“I finally saw the Kansas I've been waiting for,” Wingate said. “The open prairie with rolling hills, green grass, and big sky ... beautiful. The late afternoon and evening were spectacular … so it was very quiet and peaceful. Very nice.”

“Rolling hills, narrow shoulders, cows and wide-open spaces were the order of the day,” Mitchell said. “Lots of butterflies, dragonflies and wildflowers. We were fortunate to have a cool breeze, keeping a strong pace while learning how to avoid the big trucks on the highway.”

Mitchell and Wingate continued on at a record pace into the evening hours, hiking personal records of 30.1 miles that day. The two average closer to 20 miles most days.

Their trip began March 31 on the beaches of Cape Henlopen St. Park in Delaware, Md. They entered Kansas last week, and will take three to four weeks to cross the state. Last weekend, they rested and recuperated in Great Bend.

The hikers will spend around eight months crossing the United States on the ADT, hoping to reach the end of the trail at Point Reyes National Seashore in California by Thanksgiving.

“We’re specifically hoping to advance ‘American Ecological Awareness,’” Mitchell said in her Web site bio. “The American Discovery Trail Society captures the essence of this.”

The trail itself encourages the development and upkeep of non-motorized trails, connecting five scenic national trails and 12 historic trails, including the Santa Fe Trail and Flint Hills Nature Trail as they run through Osage County.

Mitchell and Wingate regularly update journals on their Web site at http://www.newworldexplorations.com. For more on the ADT, visit http://www.discoverytrail.org.