This post is dedication to the journey and experience of Trek. This pioneer reenactment took place in Wyoming, USA! We traveled and walked many hours and it was an experience I will never forget!
Some may ask why we would take off work, send our kids to stay with family and spend "that kind of money" to walk around in Wyoming?!
Let me give a short explanation. Many people joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the mid-late 1800's. A good majority lived in England. A call from the then Prophet Brigham Young encouraged Saints to make their way to Zion (or the Salt Lake Valley).
Many were persecuted for their beliefs and felt the need to leave their homes and jobs and emigrate to Zion. They traveled by wagons, however that was very expensive. The Saints were offered a cheaper way to travel....... The Handcart!
They were only allowed to bring 17 pounds (per person) of belongings which later due to harsh circumstances was dwindled down to about 10lbs.
The Willie and Martin Handcart companies are the most well know of the handcart companies to travel by foot to the Salt Lake Valley. They left very late in the season and were caught in terrible weather. Many died and were buried along the way.
These early Saints were asked to leave everything they had so they could be in Zion where there was a Prophet and a Temple. This may sound odd to some but to them it meant everything.
We are asked to do hard things everyday. Things that we may not know the reason why now but we know that in the long run we will gain great blessings. We reenact the pioneers journey to have a better understanding of sacrifice. We leave modern conveniences behind and dress in period clothing. We do this to be grateful of what we have and the blessings we enjoy everyday.
With that said here is our adventure!!
We boarded the buses at 12:00a on Monday the 28th. We traveled and tried to sleep the 12+ hours to Wyoming! This is Abbey and Erin (both babysit for us!) They sat behind us and we never had a dull moment.
I was smart and took a melatonin and wore ear plugs!! I got about 7/8 hours of sleep!
Some kids got creative on how and where to sleep!! One in the isle and one under the seat!! Not sure how much sleep they got!!
Our First day we get to the Willie Center and had a quick lunch, found a cart, used the restroom, filled up water bottles and trekked 2 miles. It was originally closer to 5/6 miles but we were behind schedule and only did two.
This was the 6th crossing of the Sweetwater River. By this time the pioneers had crossed the freezing water 6 times (hence the name) and most couldn't go any further.
We crossed the river twice as a group.
This as the cart behind us when we crossed. As you can see the water was about knee deep but felt so refreshing in the warm sun!
In our pioneer clothes!
This is the Senior Missionary couple who was our guide. After and before crossing the river they told us a few pioneer stories.
We were privileged to have these young women in our "family!"
Abbey, Alyssa, Ellenae and Kali. And Travis the photo bomber!!
Well this is the end of the pictures for day #1. I hope you enjoyed and check again for part/day #2!
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