TREK - Come Take your Place

TREK.  The word that I hoped I never had to live.  TREK.  I've heard about it over and over.  My in-laws and other family members had gone and loved it.  How?  How could walking across the Wyoming Plains dressed as a pioneer and pushing a handcart be fun?  I hate the sun!  I hate hiking!  I hate tenting it!  Why would I ever want to participate in TREK.

Well, I am now one of those people who has survived TREK and I can say I enjoyed it. 

It started at the end of the year 2009 when my parents were called to be the TREK Masters.  Our LDS Ward was going to have a Family TREK at Martin's Cove.  Being a TREK Master means that they get to plan and coordinate the entire trip.  From the logistics, to the food, to the programs, to committees, to picking companies, to making sure we are all prepared.  It's a big task and my parents felt the same way about TREK that I did.  Why would anyone want to?

My Dad attended a meeting up at Martins Cove to preview what they can do and what the options were.  My Mom didn't attend as she stayed home to attend a family wedding.  I can say that my Dad came back a changed man.  He became very passionate about this project and I could tell he was touched. 

I was asked to write the handbooks for the trip.  One for the adults and one for the kids.  It was a big project for me but it turned out really nice.  The handbooks included the rules, stories of pioneers, places to journal, and for the kids I included games.  Brian was asked to help with the transportation of the equipment.

That actually benefited us as we got to drive in and out with the equipment and I got to skip 1/2 of the hiking.  I liked that part.

Our theme for the TREK was "Come Take Your Place".  Each family was grouped together into 4 larger companies.  Those 4 companies had leaders to guide us.  We were also grouped up into handcarts.  Only so much stuff can fit into one handcart. Each person gets a bucket to put all your essential items in.  The buckets are what you carried with you in the handcarts.  The tents, the sleeping bags, the bigger stuff was what Brian and I transported for the group.

Remember, this is a family TREK event.  That means my 2 year old and 8 year old came too.  Each family still got to sleep in our own tents as a family.  I think that's what really made this TREK special...being a true pioneer family together.

The day we arrived the wind was soooooo bad.  We couldn't even set up the tents.  They would blow down and some even ripped.  The Missionaries in charge of Martins Grove gave us permission to drive our cars down to the campsite and set up a windbreak with them.  It was kinda a sad sight...All of the tents huddled up against either the horse corrals or the cars.  We got the tents up but it still blew and blew all night.  We were not able to have the dance that we were supposed to have.  Oaklan hated the wind so we spent alot of time sitting in the car.  The wind kept waking Kennedy up so we didn't sleep that great.

The next morning turned out to be a perfect day.  This was the day that we did the most stuff.  After breakfast we set out on our TREK.

My family is toward the beginning of this line

Oaklan's comfy seat!  Sandwiched between all the buckets with his water bottle and binkie.  Happy Kid.

Oscar the camp dog.  This dog lives up there at the camp and each week he picks his favorite group to spend the day with.  He stays in camp and follows you on your walk.  He has been known to warn off the rattlesnakes or other animals. 

We walked all the way in to Martins Cove first.

These monuments are on the way in.

  We gathered by the river for a program before we entered the actual cove.

Part of the way up through the cove we stopped to hear some songs. 

Then into the cove the Missionaries had presentation with some stories.

 As you walk out of the cove there is a monument that we stopped at.



Playing with Grandpa



Then it was time for lunch.  After lunch we started the Trek back to our campground.

  We stopped at the river crossing.  There is a bridge over the river, but to get the feel of what the pioneers really did you could choose to walk across the river. Oaklan had fallen asleep in the handcart so I stayed with the handcart but Kennedy and her Dad crossed the river together. Actually, it was an overflowed part of the river.  The river was running really high and was about 10 feet deep.  So instead there was a part that had overflowed the banks and was low enough that you could walk through.  This was one of the most moving parts of the trip knowing that many pioneers froze crossing that river in the winter. 

Next was the womens pull.  This is part of the trail where there is a steep sandy hill.  The men go to the top of the hill and leave the women and children behind to pull the handcarts up the hill themselves.  This represents two things.  At one point in history the men were called away to either join the Mormon Battalion or to serve missions.  They had to leave their families behind to fend for themselves.  It could also represent those families who lost their loved ones along the way and had to continue on their own. 

As we started up the hill some women and teens ran ahead to help out with the carts.  Kennedy and myself were left alone with our cart.  Kennedy looked up at me and said "We can do this mom!".  I knew there was no way we could do it alone.  I have to love Kennedy's willingness to give it a go.  The two of us started up the hill and then other women and teens came to help us out.  I am very appreciative of the support of others and even more appreciative of my husband and family.  I wouldn't survive this world very well without their love and support.



This is the men at the top and the women at the bottom in the background.




Me in the front corner in blue and it's hard to see but Kennedy is in the middle up front between the other two girls that jumped in to help.  Look close and you can see her arms pushing.



Then back to camp for dinner and a testimony meeting.

The final day as the rest of the group walked out we drove the equipment back to the parking lot to meet up with everyone.  Again, Oaklan was asleep and I stayed in the car with him.  I fell asleep for a few minutes while we waited and when we woke up I was very very sunburned.  Whoops....who would have thought that I needed the sunscreen in the car.  I was already a little red from the full day in the sun but now I was very burnt.  So much that it blistered and peeled.  As we were driving away Kennedy asked us when we could do it again.  Really?  She loved it so much she was ready to do it again.  I can't say that I'm ready to do it again but I'm grateful for the chance I had to be there with my family.

At the final presentation before we left the bishop said something that I will never forget.  He said that he often overheard conversations that included the phrase, "I wonder if I could have done it, could I have made it as a pioneer?".  Then the bishop said, "It doesn't matter if you could have made it because you were not asked to."  That just really hit me.  I've always said I could never be a pioneer.  I know that I couldn't survive the things that they did.  When the bishop said I wasn't ask to be a pioneer I knew he was right.  I was not asked to do those things, I am asked to do my best now.

And so, we move on.  Doing the best we can do now!