Artie and I were called to be a "Ma & Pa" for Trek, June 13-16. We had known for a few months before hand and there was a lot of preperation and several Trek trainings and also a Ma & Pa overnighter to get use to pushing the hand carts. Finally the day had arrived. We got our names of the kids that would be in our family that morning. We were all nervous and excited. All dressed in our Pioneer get up, we took the ride out to the hills where the kids would all soon arrive. We got 9 amazing kids in our family. We did a few quick get to know you games as we all sat their in our pioneer clothes with our brand new family that would go through one of the "hardest things ever" together. We took a quick family "before" picture and were on our way to load up our hand carts. Each of us were only allowed a 5 gallon bucket that would contatin all the belongings we would need for 4 days. Each person was allowed a sleeping bag, no pillow, 2 pioneer outfits, changes of underwear, shoes, socks, brush, toothbrush, pie plate, cup, wooden spoon....scriptures, journal...not much more. That first day was a LONG day and we bonded fast as a family. It was hot, around 110 or so about every day.
The first day one of our girls had the first IV of the day, the first IV of Trek. She was heat exhausted and then she started to hyperventilate. Another of our girls started feeling sick with heat exhaustion. We lost them for a little while because we had to keep moving on and at the next stop they were reunited with us. They made it the rest of the way. Struggled, but made it! We all struggled in our own way. Most of the kids were not use to being in the heat for this long doing strenuous work all day. It was very tough work. A few of the Ma's and Pa's went down each day too, fainting, with injuries, having to get IV's and such. I think everybody had some sort of injury...the boys chaffing, blisters all over our feet, achy joints, one of our girls was having hip problems, getting blisters on their hands from pulling and pushing the carts, etc. We went up and down steep hills, super rocky hills, almost impossible looking hills and mountains.
The first day was so hot and difficult.
We traveled about 11 miles. After one of our girls had the first IV, there were 16 total IV's given that first day. It was crazy hot and difficult. We just tried to keep our kids drinking and drinking and drinking enough water and gatoraee. But, I think we were all feeling it. There were difficutl times later that day. We went most of the time through the wash and it was like trying to walk and push through beach sand. It was very difficult and there were many times of frustration and exhaustion All we could do was try and keep them as motivated as possible. A few of them talked about wanting to just go home, the road & miles ahead seemed so far. We just kept telling them they could do it, we all could do it, we would be so proud when we finished. The pioneers took 90 days and we could do just 4. I think we were all so relieved to finally make it to camp that night. For dinner we had broth with a few carrots and celery and a roll. It was enough. We layed out our tarp in the wash, had a little family time and went to sleep on our tarp under the stars. we already felt bonded together, the kids seemed to open up to us and were geting more comfortable. We were so happy to be able so sit and lie down and just rest.
The next morning we woke up, fixed our oatmeal and cleaned up our camp and loaded it all up again. We had to trek it back out of the wash that morning which was hard. We had to go about 9 miles that day. My body was cramping this day...I kept trying to sip water as much as I could and have some gatorade every now and again. My stomach felt so full of water that I didn't feel like drinking anymore, but if you don't keep drinking and your stomach starts to cramp that means you're beginning dehydration because it's in your stomach but now it needs to be going to the rest of your body. I kept sipping and cramped most of the afternoon. A lot of kids were discouraged this day, murmuring, some showing their discouragment more than others. My feet began to ache and I felt like I was getting blisters. Other than that and the cramping I was doing okay. We passed by a couple of sites on the first day and the second that made it seem even more real. The second site touched me...it was a true pioneer story about a little lost boy Arthur Parker who was sick and sat down to rest and his family did not realize that he was missing for a while. The father was sick too and in the sick wagon, but the mother sent her thin red shawl with the father to go back and look for him. If he was to find him dead he should wrap him in the shawl and bury him. If alive, he was suppose to use the shawl as a flag and wave it as high as he could. We passed by a young man carrying a red shawl asking us if we had seen his young son. Later on down the trail we saw the young woman (his wife) looking way far away, high up on the mountatins to a very distant waving red shawl. It brought tears to my eyes thinking of the people that this really happened too and many other stories like this. It made me wonder what would really happen if my own small children were on the trek with me, how it must of been.
Later on in the day at one of our longer breaks they had a surprise snack of pickles. Oh. My. Goodness!!! They tasted so stinkin' good! It was like the best surprise ever at the best time. I know it brightened most everyone's day and gave us a surge of energy to keep going. During each day we had family time and talked with the kids about their experiences, why we were doing this and how what we were going through parallels to life. I'm glad we had a talkative bunch, they weren't afraid to speak most of the time. Some shyer than others and one that actually just observed most of the time. But, I think it was sinking in their heads...what the pioneers really had to go through, how hard this really was, how much it is really like life. Life has ups and downs, life has rocks in the road, some big, some huge,, sometimes you stumble, sometimes you fall, sometimes there are unknown or known people that jump in to help you push a long the path for a little bit and you have no idea how much that means. If you just keep pushing through as hard as it may be, as much as you want to give up and as much as you get so frustrated, if you just endure to the end..it will all be worth it. Some days its almost as much as you can do to just keep putting one foot in from of the other, but you keep going because you know its what you need to do, to accomplish your goal. All the kids were so strong and so tough and just kept doing it. Although they murmured and got frustrated sometimes they did not give up, they helped each other as a team, they motivated each other and kept one another going. They talked nice to each other, they lifted one anothers sprits when one was down. They believed in each other. We believed in them. We finally made it to camp that night. We had all the ingredients to make stew, yummy rolls, homemae butter to make in a mason jar and gingerbread. It all tasted so delicious. All the food we ate tasted delicous. Even the pickier eaters were eating things they nomrally don't and they weren't complaining. That night was cooler and most slept better. We had a pretty soft spot in a washy area under some trees. We had great family time that night, we talked for quite a while as a family and really got to know the kids. We talked about fun things, fears, deep down things and they got to ask us some fun questions too. It was a great night!
The trees we were sleeping under had little flowers on them that attracted bees, we woke up to a swarming sound of bees above our heads. I also saw a hummingbird early in the morning. The Ma's and Pa's had a meeting around 5:30 every morning just to get a brriefing of the days events. Today would be around 9 miles too. My feet were hurting so bad this day. My shoes were horrible, good hinking shoes with good traction but no comfort, rubbing on the sife of my feet, creating blisters in a good few spots on both feet and both of my pinky toes were swelling pretty badly. They had been looked at the night before and again this morning, duct tape was put on to just try and stop the friction and rubbing. But the pain was getting bad. It seemed that this day had some rough patches too. Trying to get some of the kids to drink enough was a task in itself. There was a few times I said quick little prayers in my mind to help the kids, to help my husband, to help me. This day I was really wanting to cry, each step was starting to hurt so badly. You can't stop because you'll get run over by the cart in back of you and if you stop and sit on the side your family will eventually be so far ahead that it would be hard to catch up. I didn't want to cry in front of the kids because it would only bring them down and not help their frustration and I was NOT going to be carried or ride a horse. Artie kept asking me if I wanted him to carry me....uh no! I would not do that to him, I know he was hurting too and I did not need to be carried. I said a quick prayer to just help us to stay positive and keep going and that my feet would be okay. We ended up having a short stop maybe 5-10 minutes later and an "Angel" (one of the other Ma's) had sent a stake member to bring back some pairs of tennis shoes from home. She found me and came running to find me and had a pair of new (old tennis) shoes for me. Tears came to my eyes, my prayer was answered literally within 10 minutes. The shoes were a bit big, but that was a good thing, they were roomy and helped a lot. My toes were still swollen and blistered, but they felt so much better with the "new" shoes. They felt pretty good, tired and sore, but good the rest of that day.
Soon we were to go down a steep rocky canyon called the "seeps" or "the jumps." We had to take it very slow, put the brakes in the back of the cart with Pa (Artie) in the front leading them through and Ma (Me) in the back. This would take good communication and effort. It was pretty and shady for a bit which was great. We kept calling it Disneyland just to make it a little fun and it almost had the same sounds as you heard screams go down therough the canyon, the lines and anticipation as each cart waited their turn and the shady cooler feeling that some lines at Disneyland have. :) "Yo ho, yo ho a pirates life for me"...we started to sing for a minute. We made it down the canyon fine. Our family had great team work. After the canyon was a bit of family time, snacks and solo time. A horse came through with "mail," a letter for each kid from a parent back home. We sent the kids off for their solo time to read their letteres, write in their journals and just ponder all the events so far. The kids didn't feel like unloading the cart to set up our tarp for shade. So, we just sat in the sun under a smal bush. After a bit of rest and family fun games we were again back on the trail. We had some big hills, they were tough and after a big pull we had another big break. Porta-potties, doctors to fix feet, give IV's and help other problems were always at all the big stops. We would fill up our water, ice, etc. Every day for lunch and longer stops we would have to unload the cart, set up a tarp for shade and eat homemade bread with peanut butter and jelly and maybe an Orange, apple, carrot or celery. At another big stop of the day a surprise sanck was watermelon. It was good, the pickles were still better for some reason. We had a huge trail in front of us as we could see a steep, long, mountatin of a hill in the distance. They sat us all down together for a discussion on the side of a steep mountain and said that just the girls & Ma's and Pa's would have to take the carts by themselves down to the bottoms of this path and they sent all the boys away to come up with a plan of how to get all 19 carts over the mountatin. I think everyody was so scared as we watched all the boys walk away. They talked with the girls asking them what if the men were all sent to war...to the "Mormon Batallion" and we had to pull up and over this mountatin alone. Sometimes you have to not depend on anyone, sometimes you have to do it yourself. A lot cried. We then found out later that they told the boys something to the effect that what if your future wife is among some of these girls. (some also had sisters). How would you feel if you did not help them over this Mountain? We only had 4 girls to a cart plus Ma & Pa and we braked it all the way down to the base of the hill trying to not let anyone get run over. We then started to pull up this monster of a mounain "Angel hill." As the girls and us started pushing up this hill, some boys a few at a time were coming down to help. We made it about half way up and then they had asked the Ma's and Pa's to not do anymore. It was so hard to leave them alone this way. We hugged them and told them they could do it and started hiking up the hill the rest of the way. We watched from the top. There was a line of boys from the top and a good 3rd of the way down and they managed a system with a rope and a stake making a pully to help pull the carts the rest of the steep way up the hill. The boys would take turns on the rope and helping to push carts with the girls. Each cart went one by one up angel hill. All we could do was stand at the top and tell them to keep pushing on. They all made it. They all wanted to help, help their families, help their friends, all helping each other. Some girls & boys were going down a 2nd and a 3rd time to help others push. Everybody was so eager to help one another make it through every single day. At the top of Angel hill was our new camp spot. Yay! Being at our spot for the night was always the best feeling. The cooks were cooking it all for us tonight, what a treat. We picked our spot, unloaded the cart, layed out the tarp and all our stuff, we sent a few kids down to get our food. We always ate as a family. We had 2 food buckets that we sent down each morning and night. This night we had chili, cornbread, fruit salad and green salad. It was Awesome! They had a hoe down with music for the kids and some of us Ma's and Pa's had such a good time laughing and talking together. We all really bonded over this experience. The kids danced and played and talked. Not sure where they got their energy, but it was a pick me up. That night when we all finally settled down the boys in our family seemed to talk among themselves in a circle on their sleeping bags and so did us girls. I loved looking at the stars every night. The millinos of them are amazing and I truly enjoyed laying under them, although it was not comfortable ground, not in my bed and no pillow, it was still beautiful and amazing and we as a family were comfortable together and had fun each night.
We kept telling the kids "we made it this far...you will finish this and make it to the end." Tomorrow we would go home! We woke up bright and early again with the sun. We had muffins this morning and orange juice. That was a nice treat. I think we were all just eager to get on the path, but it would still be long and it was still SOOOO HOT! Even at 8 in the morning, it was hot. We headed out at 8 am like all the other mornings. today was a lot of down hill which killed my toes, the pressure pushing against my sore toes was almost more than I could handle. there was a lot of up hills, but mostly downs. We could now see the whole valley. "Zion"....or good 'ol Bunkerville was looking so good, still SO far, but so close...way off in the distance. The kids were so eager, almost mad that we stopped for breaks so much this day. It was hot and still so tiring. I think our joints, ankles swelling, all pain was really starting to get to everybody. I just kept telling myself, "one foot in front of the other" and thinking about how it would feel once we finally got there. We also just tried to keep the kids excited and working hard. Telling them how great they were for working so hard and that they did this. They accomplished this hard, hard thing. They can do hard things, and if they did this, they can do anything! It seemed to take forever...forever...at our bigger stop they gave us cold apples. Seeing the beginning of the line of handcarts all the way to us at our hand cart crossing the valley was really an amazing site to see. We had gone 8 miles this day and when we finally hit a paved road on in to Bunkerville the excitement set in. It was a great site to see people, "normal dressed" people standing on the hills looking for us and then we hit the streets of town the tears started rolling down my face. Just thinking about it now still gets me teary eyed. Just knowing that we made it was an amazing feeling. Every person I recognized I started to cry more. Ward members, family member, cars...they all lined the streets. It was a parade, a parade of hand carts. Everybody was excited and taking picutres, some of "our" kids saw their parents. As we got closer to the park Artie and I saw our kids with Art & Mary. We both started to cry harder and it was so great to see them. Leaving a few of them sick and for almost 4 days was so hard, plus the hardships we went through made us miss them more. We made it to the Bunkerville park and we were finally there! We made it to the End...We made it to Zion!
4 days in the hot, hot desert trekking 33 miles with 9 brand new teenage kids. We had a great family. Nobody new each other that well when we were first joined together, but by the end we were literally like family. I love them all. We had hard working and such good kids. Each of them played a special part in our family. Some that were natural leaders, some that just did what they were told, some that were stubborn. :) But, all so great! They kept telling us that we had the best family! We thought so too. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but also one of the greatest!
