What a trek..

So R and I were called to be mom and pop for the trek That our church puts on..  It finally came around on June 11-14th ..  we arrived early wednesday morning to the trek place to get final instructions before we were bomb barded with the youth of our stake.  We were than assigned families and did a get to know you game..  which was very strange since we got a very non talking family..  we then proceed to put together our handcart and load it and get ready to head out on the first leg of our trek..  This is at about 4:30pm and we trek til 11 pm ish  by this time it is so dark no one can see in front of them to not trip on the rocks and all the kids think that we are STARVING them, we are told that it is time to make camp and they are so tired that all the kids unroll their sleeping bags and hit the sack,  we went to pick up our dinner and someone else had taken it.. so we scrounge up a loaf of bread and some pnut butter and jam and the kids swear that they are in heaven...  pnut butter never tasted so good!!!  we had 3 of our kids eat their sandwiches in their sleep..

We were up early and had oatmeal and muffins,  we pack up and head out for a day of trekking we stop for a water break and a quick mom and pop mtg.  Then shortly there after Someone from the military shows up to call the men to the mormon battalion as all the men were taken away the women started singing God be with you til we meet again.  It was a very touching moment and amazement at what the pioneer women were going through at that time..  We than started into what was called the womens pull and I found out how old I am and how out of shape i am..  It was interesting to watch the girls start out pulling just their own carts and only making it a little way up the hill, than to see them bond together and help each other pull their carts up this incredibly steep hill and to see these girls keep going up and down over and over and then as we got closer to the top to hear the men singing in the back ground brought many tears and the extra push to make it to the top and by ourselves gave each and every girl the strength they needed..  it was a very spiritual thing to see and feel..  After we reached the top and the men rejoined us we gathered as families to have a talk about what we all were feeling about what we all had just gone through!!!  very interesting discussion...  The boys were very frustrated that all they did was sing and couldn't help the girls.. they were suprised that the girls were thankful for there singing..

We than got behind our handcarts ready to head to base camp when they informed us that it was rocky ridge time...  I thought the womens pull was steep... Rocky Ridge was straight up before we started up They had a picture of the real rocky ridge straight up and nothing but ROCK.  To think that the pioneers went up this and made it to the top is amazing..  All the carts made it to the top with a lot of help from each other to go down the other side (just as steep) to base camp..I think going down was just as hard if not harder than going up..

We set up base camp and enjoyed some down time.. we had some fun activities taffy pull cinnamon rolls hair washing and candle making... we also had black powder shooting and pioneer toy making.. we made dutch oven bisquets and dutch oven beef stew for dinner which the kids devoured.. we than had a fun evening of the ma and pas making huge fools of themselves and heard from the stake president than of to bed to prepare for our pioneer sabbath.  I actually liked sleeping out under the stars if only there werent so many rocks...

Friday was our sabbath day and it started with a blind folded scavenger hunt which half of our group got it the other half didn't there really wasn't a right or wrong way to do the hunt it was an individual experience.  We than had priesthood/relief society than sunday school at the end of that the kids got what we called a solo time, it was a time to meditate and read the scriptures write in their journals and each kid had a letter from their parents to read..  the solo time was 2 hours and they could take a well needed nap if they wanted to..  after that was the FEAST  steak potatoes and green beans roll and brownie..  It was a great meal...  we than had a quick fireside than split into our companies for testimony meeting.  Then back to camp and bed!!  

Saturday we got up and packed back up ready to head home..  we had pancakes sausage and oatmeal..  we picked up the garbage at camp then headed out on our trek home...  it was the hottest day and the longest part of the trek we had to have an extra water fill up station and every one was tired and cranky..  but they all pulled together and we made it back to the cars that would take us home..  we unloaded and took apart the handcart grabed a sandwich and chips and headed home...  It was a great experience to be part of and to watch these kids go trough this..  I have a deeper respect for our pioneer ancesters and am grateful for the sacrifices that they made for us...  

I know that this was a long but quick overview... I hope that you enjoyed it and I hope that if you or your kids get the experience to go on a trek take advantage of it...  it will be something that you will not forget..