Trek

My wonderful, overachieving extended family put together a family reunion, on steroids.  We all made our way to Wyoming to go on a pioneer trek.  It was a huge effort to get all 95 of us there, but it was amazing! This is going to be a long post and it is mostly just for me to remember things. :)
 
Jared had a fever of 103 degrees the night before we started out. 

He was kind of delirious and we were pretty worried about his health going into a dramatic wilderness experience in the coming days.  He got a blessing and we hoped it would be the start of some helpful miracles.  We were happily rewarded.  His fever broke and the dr said he didn't have any infection.  He just needed lots of sleep to recover.  Jared toughed it out and we decided to go through with our plans.

Because our drive was going to be a long one, we stopped off in Pocatello to break up the hours.  Wendy graciously hosted us and the kids had a blast running around with their cousins.  These two bonded.

The next day we stopped off at the Fossil Butte National Monument and the kids became Junior Rangers.  Fun stuff.

Our first day of Trek was just about getting to the middle of nowhere.  Wyoming is not our top vacation destination, let's just say that.  Anyway, we started out camping in Willie Meadows at the Sweetwater River.  As my cousins and aunts and uncles and siblings filtered in to the campground through the evening and donned their pioneer gear the kids started getting really excited for the adventure.  An early wake-up the next morning provided us with a gourmet breakfast (you wouldn't believe the amount of food we brought along with us to have three huge, delicious meals every day).  Then we picked up our handcarts from the missionaries stationed there and loaded them up with our necessary gear. 

My Dad, Shirley, my brother Dave, his wife Kara, their kids Katherine, Parker and Caleb and our family had one handcart.  We loaded it up with jugs of water and gatorade, some snacks, and even attached an umbrella to give a little shade.

 

Jared crossing the Sweetwater carrying the boys

 

As we started out in our family handcart train it was an awesome sight.  There were six carts total, some with little kids in the back, some with just gear, and the rest of us were either pulling, pushing or walking alongside the carts.  It was a short six mile loop to give us a taste of things to come.  There were times when the trail was deep, fine dirt which made it hard to get the cart through.  Other times it was just hard packed dirt with only the hot sun beating down on us.  The kids were kind of bored and Cade was pretty much crying the whole time. He wouldn't ride or walk, but insisted that Jared carry him.  Jared was just barely trying to recover from being sick.  Not really a super spiritual experience to say the least.  I was worried about dehydration, snakes, the unknown.  Yes, I was distracted.  At about four miles in I pulled the kids out and we got a car ride back to our campground.  But not to worry about boredom there!  Every member of the family had some assignment to help in some way throughout the week.  I was on the "Activities Committee" so we had bags of crafts, games and fun things to do for those who were hanging out at camp.  I know, you are thinking "Abby in charge of crafts?!?"  That is not really my bag of tricks, I'm more into games. But my cousin is a crafting genius and she put the goods together. The kids went straight for the crafts (because they don't get that stuff at home) and started painting rocks.

 

 When the trekkers had finished their loop, everyone packed up and moved over to the Willie Meadows visitor center.  We were able to have a once in a lifetime experience of watching my niece and two of my cousins kids get baptized in the Sweetwater.  It was really sweet. 

Right after the kids got baptized the sky opened up and we ran for cover because there was an intense desert rainstorm with crazy wind, thunder and lightning.  It was a little slice of what the pioneers went through.  The weather just half an hour before had been hot and dry.  After about forty-five minutes of crazy storm, it cleared up.  The puddles that had formed soaked up in a matter of minutes and we could hardly tell there had been a down pour.  That ground is dry!

We headed to our next spot: Sage Camp where we set up our tents again and had dinner. More family members joined us too.

Day three of our trek was our big day.  The plan was to trek up Rocky Ridge and down into Rock Creek Hollow, a fifteen mile trail. 

Jared was not feeling super hot still and we knew Cade wouldn't be pleasant so he took it for the team and stayed behind.  My brothers Chris and Pete and their families and my Dad and Shirley decided to stay at camp too. Afton, Ben and I joined up with Dave, Kara and their kids on a handcart and started off on the trip.  It was just Dave and I pulling the four kids in the cart while Kara carried Caleb on her back.  She is amazing.  Pretty soon Dave and I started to fall behind because with just the two of us pulling the 250+ pound cart it was hard work.  We got some help here and there but weren't quite keeping up with the rest of the group.  That morning we had met up with a Stake youth group from Blanding doing the same stretch (BLM rules are pretty strict out there about who goes and when).  Three nice teenage boys came to help out.  It made a great difference! 

As the trail started to get really steep, we needed all the help we could get.  My 70 year old uncle helped push too and with the six of us, we made it up and over a really rocky, steep section.  I started to realize the incredible journey the pioneers had taken.  The Willie handcart company did it while starving to death and with eighteen inches of snow in the bitter cold.  Now I was starting to get the significance of this journey. I was pulling that cart with every ounce of my strength.  We all were.  And we were slowly moving up the trail. When we got to the summit and put the cart down in the long line of other carts, we got to sit up on top and listen to stories of heroism and miracles from the Willie Handcart Company.  Now I got IT.  I had been skeptical about why there is so much talk about these handcart companies that had made so many mistakes and had so much tragedy.  But my brother put it in good perspective.  We all have lives that are less than perfect.  We make mistakes and we mess up.  Life is cracked.  But those cracks let the light in.  It is what we do when we are faced with stress and hard things that really matters.  Those are the times we learn the most.  Those are the inspirational stories.  That is what we can learn from these pioneers.  They persevered and loved each other and the Lord.  They helped each other and came out from it refined and full of faith.  Now that's inspiring.
After our 4 1/2 mile climb I took Afton, Ben, Katherine and Parker off the trail and we got a car ride to Rock Creek Hollow.  The kids were feeling tired and worn out and we felt we had given them a good slice of what pioneer life was like without causing them unnecessary discomfort.  We met up with Jared and Cade and spent the next few hours enjoying more crafts with a bunch of littles and another crazy rain storm.  When the group made it into camp after trekking for nine hours we cheered them in.  They did a great job!

The next morning we had a family testimony meeting at Rock Creek Hollow.  I was so proud of my family for doing what we did.  And I was proud of my ancestors who had persevered and were so tough.  Their sacrifices made mine seem small.  I'm grateful for them.
Here are all the my cousins kids that were there.  Just the girls though. The boys got their own pic (can't find it). Family is fun!

After our fun journey we had 100% satisfaction, no injuries, no emergencies, and no snake sightings!  It was very nearly perfect!

To make it perfect we drove from Wyoming to my family cabin for 20 hours of a slice of heaven.  We made it on a small hike with the kids.
Then Jared and I stole away and went on a real hike to a breathtaking lookout spot.  It was just what the doctor ordered.
May I share some pictures of heaven with you?