Pioneer Trek 2022

 

I grew up as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints outside of "Mormon Alley." I recall as a youth being on the envious side of all the cool things teenagers got to do in the large Utah, Idaho, and Arizona wards/stakes. Activities like EFY, spiritual youth camps, trek, music performances, General Conferences, BYU Women's Conference, etc sounded like Heaven on Earth. Granted some of those opportunities were available to us on the East Coast but at a watered down level.  I am exceptional grateful for our Trek experience last week, I feel fulfilled as an almost 45 year old lady! Justin and I took our family to Martin's cove 6 years ago over Labor Day weekend, a bucket list item. That was a hard yet fun family memory. After last week's trek the experience is even more near and dear to my heart. We started meeting and planning trek last fall. The youth were involved for 6 months learning, studying, and preparing for trek. It was not a simple event, our wards structured it to be a very spiritual and educational experience for the youth. 

One of my favorite parts was choosing a pioneer to walk for, a member of the Martin or Willey companies if possible. Justin walked for Arza Erastus Hinckley one of the rescuers of the stranded handcart companies. He was one of Brigham's personal wagoneers so had many talents navigating the terrain and managing wagons and teams. Arza was dedicated, he pressed on in the snow and wind when others wanted to return to Salt Lake. His efforts paid off when Ephraim Hanks spotted the beleaguered saints, Arza was right behind with the wagons! I walked for Eliza Rocksina Murdock born during a trek across the 40-mile desert in Nevada. Her story inspired me that we can do all the hard things! Amelia walked for Sarah Ellen Ashton. She was in the Martin Handcart company with her sisters Betsy (11) and Mary (4) at the age of 7 with her parents. Her mother and baby sister died near Cutler's park, soon after their father abandoned the girls. They stayed as orphans with other families, Betsy died (froze) at Red Buttes. Can you imagine these two hungry, lonely, terrified little girls? I sure could. Lastly, Phillip walked for Anson Call another rescuer who quickly responded to Brigham's call. He helped save Margaretta Unwin Clark of the Martin company. Anson recognized she was dying, freezing to death, made her get up and walk and walk. Anson later married her! We all have connections to those saints, their stories resonated in our hearts throughout our adventure. 

Our trek adventure started the previous week with lots of sewing: skirts and aprons galore. Since my sewing machines were out I also repaired a bunch of items piled up in the laundry room. Tuesday afternoon I realized I needed one more skirt, bam, whipped another one out minutes before our stuff needed to be at the church. Thankfully, the Ma's and Pa's could bring sleeping pads! Yee Haw! Sara took care of Everett, Evelyn, and Josie for the week. Unfortunately, Evelyn got quite sick running a high fever, coughing, and barfing. It was difficult to get sporadic information from Sara about Evelyn, out of the three kids she is the one who has the hardest time with me being gone. Poor kiddo. I had to laugh that Josie went to the arcade dressed in her Elsa PJs! She was very excited about that. The kids got to see the new Sonic movie, go to the arcade, and watch lots of TV. The Ostler boys went camping Friday and Saturday so the kids got lots of downtime. Evelyn and Josie made clothes out of Walmart bags, that is super fun and creative. 

We arrived at the Stake Center around 6 am just in time to meet our new kids and grab breakfast. Justin and I were assigned the color GREEN! Fate! My favorite. Our new kids were: Michael Potter, Trey Bledsoe, Jesse Teriipaia, Carson Ostler, Olivia Fisher, Eva (her cousin), Emma Flake, and Natalya Finch. We had the largest group in our ward. Our wards hired two travel buses to convey us all, that was very nice. The buses left around 6:30 am. During the ride we watched 4 church movies (Other Side of Heaven, 17 Miracles, Fighting Preacher, and Ephraim's Rescue).  In between movies we had some activities with our new families like choosing a chant, a motto, decorating a flag, making button spinners, and etc. The drive was a long 9 hours across Idaho to Lava Hot Spring area, then two-way highways to Sixth Crossing near Leander, WY. Amelia was with Ambree and Jocelyn, Kaleb, Josh, Tian, and James, her Pa and Ma was Bishop Roundy and Sister Roundy. Phillip's family was Jayden, Darrell, Thomas, Cassidie, and Susanna with the Flake's as the Pa and Ma. Thankfully, we enjoyed a 30 minute pit stop to use regular restrooms and eat a bite of lunch. 

We set up our base camp at Sixth Crossing, the Jamerman site. Oh the mosquitos. We were swarmed by thick clouds of mosquitoes, it was a challenge to breathe without a swallowing a bug. The deet bug spray did not deter the pests, Phillip still has swollen sores from his encounter the first few hours. I scooted my skirt down to the ground and rolled my sleeves to my wrists. Clothing seemed to be the best protection. Our boys did a great job setting up their tent, then the girls tent...then the other girl's tent. We were right next to the Roundy's group while the Flake's set up near the entrance. We played a couple family games...more like 20 questions than a game. We learned Michael hates peanut butter, Emma is amazing, Carson is Carson, Olivia and Eva are quiet, Natalya is spicy, and Jesse loves his mother. Quite hilariously we had the tallest and shortest kids in our family. Unfortunately, a young 12 year old broke his arm within the first hour. The kids were playing missionary tag, he stumbled into a Prairie Dog hole. Shortly after the broken arm James sprained his ankle thanks to another Prairie Dog hole. There were hundreds of holes and quite a large family of Prairie Dogs at our particular campsite. During devotional the Missionaries sped around the campsites on an ATV with mosquito abatement chemicals...oh the cheering was loud! Bliss. During the parent meeting after the kids were settled down, Sister Bledsoe handed out new babies for all the families with colored kerchiefs to match out family color. I named our baby "Groot" because, "Groot" is green. We had to hold and care for the newborn doll as our newest family member. Amelia's family was SOOOO loud. The kids were awake and obnoxious until 1 am, I about collapsed their tents just to make a statement, too much effort. I was tired enough to sleep through the noise. Phillip looked like Chunk from Goonies again with a nasty, swollen mosquito bite behind his ear. 

Our first full trek day started at 6:15 am with bugle calls and drums. We hurriedly slammed down breakfast burritos and made our lunches for the day. The plan was to have the kids bring their packed buckets, two water containers, extra shoes, our first aid supplies, and of course our new baby Groot. The kids added to Groot's name: Groot Gorgu Jack-Jack Call the Third, aka The Child. The buses arrived right on schedule to schlep us all to Martin's Cove for the day. The drive took about an hour. Everyone was silent so I started singing Come, Come Ye Saints, all verses! Carson enthusiastically joined in! We continued singing until our voices were hoarse. How fun. Two sets of missionaries met us at the Trek entrance. We got our handcarts loaded, water containers filled, then everyone sunscreened, hydrated, and bathroomed. It was a hot day, quite humid with no wind (strange). The Missionaries delivered a short devotional about Martin's Cove while we were gathered inside Ft Seminoe. Our cart was the last cart in line, we had a medical kit and a special flag to indicate we were the end. Our missionary guides divided, the brother leading, and the sister back with our cart. I had to laugh because Jesse's arms were level but the other kids had to reach around chest level to grasp the hardcart bar. Carson looked like he was hanging from a high bar. We hiked about a mile to the first stop, hydrating all the while. Amelia was really concerned about her hip, she was doing well. At the picnic pavilion we parked our carts and set off on foot to walk the loop around Martin's Cove. The Cove is on BLM land so the carts are not allowed, we were warned to not even pee in the bushes...lots of paperwork to fill out if you pee on Government land. There is a sweet, peaceful feeling once we entered the loop. All the kids immediately walked reverently, we were all lost in thought savoring the feeling of that sacred place. Brother Bledsoe talked to us about the history of Martin's Cove and told us some stories about Martin company. One young man in the 34th ward is quite physically challenged. It was so special to watch how the young men rallied around him, including him in everything. He rode in a special rickshaw allowed on BLM land pulled by the young men. I was so inspired by the Potter triplets who also pulled their mom in a rickshaw both trek days. It was hard enough walking in the summer, impossible to imagine the suffering of the Saints in the snow, starving, and wearing inadequate clothing. We rested for an hour after walking the loop at the pavilion. We ate lunch, drank water, some journaled, some rested, others played until it was time to continue. The rest of the loop was a bit dustier and not as smooth..yay! Our next stop was the site near the Sweetwater crossing where 4 teenaged boys helped carry Saints across the river, ultimately dying for their sacrifice. The statues are poignant, larger-than-life representations of the young men in action. We listened to a devotional about being rescuers. We crossed the Sweetwater with our carts. Some opted to cross barefoot (me), others in socks, others in shoes. Some others crossed using a bridge as it was optional. The loop was a total of 5.1 miles over the space of 5 hours. As we walked the kids thought about what their spiritual gifts were and what gifts they noticed in our "family." Everyone napped on the bus ride back to camp. As a family we spent some time journaling and discussing what spiritual gifts we noticed in ourselves and each other. Justin had a brilliant idea to challenge Michael to starting a fire using a small fresnel lens. The boys were engrossed for an hour and a half trying to start a fire. They tried everything, from paper, to shredding wood, to making a fire bow. Michael ended up with several holes in his clothing and some smoking paper. Carson was an avid Prairie Dog hunter...with a hammer. He went home empty handed. The kids played baseball until dinner...and then some more until sunset. Brother Abe gave an amusing devotional about keeping ourselves morally clean. He is a surgeon so knows a thing or two about sterilization. Jocelyn volunteered for a part, she put her hands into a baggie filled with moist cow patties... and gloves on. Our treat was ice cream! The leaders started handing out full quarts of ice cream to lucky kids because there was no way to keep it frozen. In spite of sugar highs everyone went to sleep quickly. The wind made a grand entrance as evening approached, blew all those nasty mosquitos into Nebraska. 

Friday we started even earlier with a 6 am wake up call. Our sixth crossing trek start time was 8 am, right outside the campground. Breakfast was divine! Hot pancakes with all the delicious toppings, fruit, and sausage. Phillip was in line to make his lunch, I decided it was a perfect chance to tackle hug him from behind. He was hiding a plate of pancakes decorated with 3 inches of whipped cream, syrup, butter, and fruit. My sleeve was quite delicious! Phillip was stunned...poor kid lost a sausage. He wiped off the dirt and ate it anyhow. Gotta watch out for those pesky mothers. We trekked about 6 miles right on the Mormon Pioneer Trail. We pulled the carts about mile up to the actual trail then followed it to Willie Meadows. The Flakes gave an awesome devotional when the trail joined with the Mormon Trail. Brother Flake related a story about working with his Dad as a boy. He worked a summer as a runner for a construction crew. He noticed that the men were slow and lazy, so he told his Dad. His Dad replied, "how are you contributing to this problem? What are you going to do instead of complain?" Brother Flake took the challenge and started running between his tasks, literally challenging the older men to work faster in order to keep up with a boy. I liked that, instead of tattling, look at how you are part of the problem. The women's pull was next. The men were tasked to keep their hands clasped behind their backs, stare straight ahead, lining the trail, to only help if a cart was near accident level. Most carts had 5 girls pushing or pulling. The Ma's were not to help except if there were not enough girls per cart. Amelia's group really struggled, our Emma immediately ran back once our cart was at the top and grabbed the cart before gravity took over. That was a moment, made us all rejoice inside. The boys later reported how hard it was to watch the girls struggle and not jump in to help. It was hard to watch Ambree and Jocelyn exerting all their strength pushing that cart up. All the adults commented at one time or another about the lack of complaining, from the time we loaded the buses until Trek ended there was little whining or complaining, it was magical. The leaders sang Ye Elders of Israel in Willie Meadows. The site has a definite peace to it, the Willie company halted in a shelter of willow trees until they were saved. We heard the story of Harvey Cluff (a rescuer) who put up a sign in case any of the company passed by. That sign saved the Willie company! The spirit was very strong as we all sang together a second time. I was grateful the trail was not paved, it was dusty, windy, hot, bumpy, and quite challenging. My favorite stop was called the Eminence, where we learned about George Cunningham's dream where he saw the rescuers coming over the ridge, specifically the Spanish saddles and blue army coats. His dream gave the company hope to continue on, where indeed their rescuers came over the ridge just as George dreamed.  Emma and Carson decided to tie poor Groot to our handcart, he contracted dysentery and almost died. The wheel rubbed a large tear in his nether regions. He did take a very long nap rocked to sleep by the cart's movement. Everyone loved the second river crossing. The water felt awesome on our tired feet. Brother Flake started a stick pulling contest. In addition, the kids were water wrestling, splashing each other, skipping rocks, and generally having a great time.  Last trek Sister Abe gave Brother Abe a piggy back ride across the river because he didn't want to get his shoes wet. Sister Abe offered to reenact that service, she dumped him halfway across much to our enjoyment. 

Back at camp we had several hours before dinner, Olivia and Eva took naps while the rest of us caught a ride to the Sixth Crossing Visitors Center. We almost enjoyed the air conditioning more than the content...almost. The dark, cool theater was a fan favorite. I loved one of the questions at the end of the tour, "How will you rescue others?" Justin and I held a short(ish) family devotional before dinner. We shared some family pioneer stories about Anson and Charlotte Clark (the shoes story). We talked about the question I noticed above. We have a much deeper appreciation for each other developed over the past couple of days, it is amazing to me how quickly we forge human connections while working together. Ambree was in their tent crying, I was dismayed that her Ma was not intervening at all. I learned that their trek parents had not done much to foster the trek experience, no family prayer, devotionals, games, etc. Ambree was crying because she was told to get in her tent and journal, she had no idea what to write or do. It was hard to keep criticism to myself, Amelia was disappointed in that aspect. She noticed their family was not doing the extra things together like all the other groups. We invited them to join us, but it was a bit late to make up for all the fun and games we organized over the past two days. Ambree felt better after dinner, Amelia and Jocelyn made sure to involve Ambree in the rest of the evening's activities. We had the square dancing area reserved for the evening. The kids practiced several fun dances before trek so we exercised lots while feeling awkward and silly. I am no dancer...it's time to accept that. After two country dances a mini-Stake dance broke out with Rebecca Bledsoe as DJ. She missed her life calling, scratch that...she is living her life calling as a DJ. Once again 34th ward rallied around Joey giving him space and time to dance his heart out! He even got to crowd surf! 

The boys somehow managed to move some benches into a circle, Jesse picked up a bench with one hand, took 4 Deacons to move one. Hilarious, the lack of coordination was impressive. Bishop led us for a testimony meeting. Thankfully, the mosquito abatement team made a round saving our tender skin. We gladly paused our meeting in a moment of silence for the fallen pests. My thoughts were centered on how the pioneers were so resilient, more antifragile. Their faith and belief in Christ moved them to accomplish incredible physical feats, they were bent beyond normal parameters, yet they often returned to normal (resilient) then managed to elevate themselves and become better. I learned during trek that the Pioneers learned to be antifragile through personal connections with each other. Faith was shared, belief bolstered, stewardship managed all because they carried the weight as a company. Zion is not only a place but a way of living in a mutual symbiotic relationship with each other and God. The triplets amazed us once again. The boys all brought their phones, at age 18 there was not much we could do. They were respectful with their usage so we allowed it. I was unsure if they were getting anything out of trek. Michael testified of his love of Christ and a renewed resolve to serve the Lord. Phillip was fidgeting, we could tell he wanted to get up but was unsure. Justin and I called him out, he seemed relieved we did.  The next morning Phillip told me he felt a powerful confirmation after bearing his testimony, he heard the words to "Be Still my Soul" which made him tear up. I was thrilled to find a tie tack at Deseret Book with those words engraved on it, he once again felt the spirit as I explained the gift. 

Saturday was another early morning for the camp. We were up before 6 am. The kids were quite motivated to get the tents and their buckets packed because that assignment had to be completed before breakfast. We once again packed lunches right after breakfast. The kids worked hard to police the campground for litter. Our group rode in the bus with the wonky DVD player and inefficient air conditioner, the other group rode in the better bus to make things fair. We all slept (except for the 11-13 year olds) during the drive to Rock Creek Hollow. I am so grateful we stopped there. Rock Creek Hollow is a very sacred spot. It is the site where the Willie company halted after climbing 600 feet in 3 miles, the summit of Rocky Ridge. Some members of the company were still struggling into camp at 5 am after 30 hours of struggling up the terrain. The struggle overcame 15 members of the company, they were buried in a circle with feet inwards much to everyone's grief. We heard the story of Bodil Mortensen a 10-year old Saint who joined another Swedish family to join her older sister in Salt Lake. She was in charge of several young children. After struggling into camp she attempted to collect sticks for a fire, she was found clutching the sticks frozen to death. James Kirkwood (11) carried his 4 year old brother most of that day up the summit. His little body worked to death submitted after making it to camp. We listened to a devotional in the hollow area. President Hinckley's monumental reminder to "Remember" rang sweetly in our hearts. Amelia's baby suffered a near decapitation after the boys threw it by the head. Armed with my needled the poor babe survived (baby was named Billy Bob Jolene). It was time to head home. We watched several fun Disney movies and a terrible LDS film called Inspired Guns. The lack of air conditioning did not reach critical degrees until the last 3 hours of our drive. The engine heat and lack of circulating air made it absolutely miserable. I felt more sick from the heat than 3 days of trek. I was sore all over because my sleeping pad had a leak, my hips were bruised from all the rocks, my cpap stopped working the second night so I laid awake until 3-4 am worried about snoring, the battery was charged so I don't know what the issue was. We stopped for pizza dinner at a park in Twin Falls. Our kids started bickering the moment we left the bus. It was amazing. Literally seconds after...   

Green Chant: No step on Snek; if it rattles we will battle

Red Chant: Red Rocks, Red Rocks O, O, O

    Red's baby name was Sally Lime

Yellow Chant: "I want it that way" (her group hated it but didn't change it)

Sunday and Monday I hobbled about like an old lady. My chiropractor snapped my hips back into alignment, yay. We spent a few hours at the Palmers swimming with them and the Ostlers. Those 7 puppies are adorable. I think Sara might purchase one of Tillie's golden doodle pups. I am so sad the Palmers are moving to Paris, ID. Their home is under contract after just a week on the market. They are moving the end of July. Their new property is gorgeous. Looks like they are going to build a metal garage/house combo next year. Until then Esther found a long-term Air BNB to rent. They are both looking for jobs in their new area. I want to find a slice of solace to free range my kids too, that sounds like good hard work. 

We went cherry picking on Wednesday morning. The weather was nice and balmy at 70 degrees, perfect for picking. The kids all picked a full quart bucket, we kept two full buckets and sold the other two. Yum. I am not going to pick apricots this year. The kids and Justin are not keen on apricot fruit or jam. Thursday the Bledsoe's invited us to swim in their new pool. Yay! The girls love any chance to use their mermaid tails. Josie learned to swim like a mermaid with and without her tail on. I find it hilarious to watch her bum and legs working in sync. I played noodle horses with the little kids jumping off the diving board, essentially wiggling a pool noodle or two while the kid tries to jump on the noodle. I am impressed the little kids were swimming so well in deep water! I earned my third wonky sunburn of the season. Apparently I need to work on sunscreen application. One shoulder burned, one spot was white, under my neck was white but the rest of the my chest burned, craziness. I didn't even know about my sunburn until 10:30 pm when I scratched my forehead and it started burning. 

Justin and I went on a double date with Sara and Dusty Friday night. After leaving Sara remembered that Carson was supposed to take care of the Flake's animals and house, Mia took care of the morning feeds. Carson refused to get on his bike because he might get hit by a car, aka, he did not want to turn off the TV. He wanted to text a friend to come pick him up and take him the mile or so to the Flake's house. Amelia was more than willing to go so she biked over there, only to find the older girls returned a little bit early. We all wanted to kick Carson's butt! We had some Costa Vida for dinner with our snazzy coupons. Then we watched Top Gun 2, which was surprisingly good. I even cried a bit at the end when everyone survived. Can't move me during sappy flicks but a good action show, now that moves me to tears. Ha ha. Poor Ruby (their dog) was having a panic attack because she is scared to death of the barrage of fireworks. She was barfing up pink slop and refusing to go outside, Ambree was freaked out by it all. No wonder the Ostler's rarely leave the kids alone, they called her about 20 times. 

Saturday we went to the library just to get out of the house. Amelia spent the day with Clare and Tessa at Roaring Springs. She came home with two new squishmallows...ok?!