2008 Pioneer Trek

I finally got a few minutes to post about our Stake Pioneer Trek. We only had two young women, and four young men along with 5 leaders from our ward. We were the smallest group- but I loved it. We only had one handcart to pull and it made us seem more like a family. We left on Thursday, July 24th. That day we walked 12 miles to our camp. It was a long, hot day. There were many youth from other wards that suffered from exhaustion and dehydration. We had a few young men get sick the first day and night. One ended up going home in the middle of the night. We felt bad he couldn't continue with us.

We were trying to do a serious pioneer look. :-)

We walked about 8 miles and then stopped for lunch. After our break we filled our water jugs and started our journey again. We were stopped by "military men" with orders that the Mormon men were to leave to help fight in the Mexican war. This was a re-enactment of the Mormon Battalion. So all of the men left. Our stake leaders talked about how the women must have felt at this time and how they were left to continue the trek into Utah. They were left with children and elderly people. We then had to pull our handcart up a HUGE hill. All of this was done in silence so we could feel the Spirit and think of how it must have been for those women. Since we were small in numbers it was extremely difficult to get that handcart up the hill. It probably weighed about 275 pounds. I broke down in tears halfway up the hill- along with all the other girls. Partly because of the physical difficulty of it, and because I couldn't imagine having the faith to do this back then. Then I tried imagining if my kids were with me and how they would struggle and be hot and tired. The pioneers didn't have good shoes, multiple fresh water and bathroom stops and lots of food, etc. They truly suffered and sacrificed. Once we were almost up the hill, the men returned, removed their hats out of respect, and walked in silence beside us. They were not allowed to help us yet. This was emotionally trying on them. It is in their nature to help- especially when girls are crying and are in desperation. I was relieved when they took our load from us. It was a powerful and moving experience. I will never forget it and am so thankful for it. It made me extremely grateful for all that I have.

Yes- I did actually help pull the handcart every once in awhile!

Our "studly" pioneer men. Trevor and Austin (plaid shirts) were so awesome! They pulled that cart the entire time without a complaint. You guys ROCK!


Jasper and Jen ("Ma" and "Pa") and Chelesa taking a break under the cart. Jen was always showing off her bloomers. I asked her if she was trying out for Pioneer Playboy. :-)

My friend Coby and one of the young men- Trevor, taking a break.

On Friday we walked for 8 miles. My muscles ached a little bit from the day before. We didn't get much sleep the night before either because we had some noisy girls camped by us and because one of our young men got sick in the night. That night we had a big dance. They had line dancing, square dancing, bunny hop and of course the hokey pokey! Good old fashioned fun!

Coby, Me and Casey (Aren't those bonnets just stylin?)

Chelesa trying to get a handle on the blisters. (Which I got NONE! Yippee!)

Saturday we only had four miles to walk. It was an easy day except for my killer headache. Three days without a Diet Pepsi was VERY challenging for me. I was anxious to get home and see my family too. I missed them while I was gone. They all started laughing when they picked me up and saw how dirty I was. I don't think Logan and Claire knew what to think. And that cold Diet Pepsi my hubby brought me was truly heaven on earth. :-) I was brought back to earth though when I stepped on the scale at home and had actually gained a pound! How can someone walk 20 miles, drink all water and no soda, barely snack and gain weight! It is truly hopeless for me. It just proved that exercise will do be no good, so why start????