O Pioneers!

We didn't live quite as ruggedly as the early pioneers and we had plenty to eat, but we did get a hint of the effort it took to cross the plains and settle the west. For youth conference this year our stake did a Trek. They youth dressed as pioneers and pulled handcarts, cooked over fires, set up primitive shelters and had a lot of fun. Ralph and I got to participate as Ma and Pa Smith to 12 of the teenagers. It was a great experience. We were blessed in many ways. The weather cooperated nicely. It was the end of June and early July but we had nice moderate temperatures and low humidity (for this area, anyway) which made the hiking pleasant. We didn't get any rain. My feet didn't hurt me even after walking all day. We had a fabulous group of kids to work with.

Here we are in our pioneer duds.

The kids in our group worked hard and did what they were supposed to do, when they were supposed to do it. Occasionally they needed a little nudging in the right direction, but they were willing to get the job done. All of the youth took turns doing the hard pulling. All of them took turns fetching water and doing the unpleasant chores. They worked well together and played together during the free time.

For some must push...

And some must pull.

Steven pulling with the Eliason family.

Lauren during the women's pull.

Dinner prep.

Our group was a little different because we had a girl in the group who has cerebral palsy. It is difficult for her to walk but she wanted to participate. She did skip the big pull on the first day but joined up when we got into camp and played a part in cooking the meal and setting up camp. During some free time in the evening after dinner the boys in the group ran over to the girls and invited them to a game of capture the flag. It took the guys only a moment to realize that the girls weren't jumping up to join them because it would mean leaving Chelsey out. To the boys credit they quickly changed plans and joined the girls on the ground. They substituted circle games to running around games and made sure that everything they did included her. Watching the group play a few rousing rounds of Pterodactyl was quite entertaining.

Pterodactyl!

When Chelsey wanted to help pull the handcart on the second day, the group very quickly adapted to the slower pace that she had to take. But she did it. She help pull the cart over a quarter mile to the head of the trail. At that point she was picked up in the truck to take her to the end where the afternoon activities would take place. That quarter mile was exhausting to her. I loved to see the youth in the group work so well with her. Because we had taken the first half mile so slowly, we had quite a ways to go to catch up with the train of handcarts. At this point our kids started pulling so hard that I got winded trying to keep up with them. And all I was doing was walking alongside. It is amazing how much strength they had as they all worked together.

Chelsey pulling.

Friday evenings program was a lot of fun. Lauren played the accordion as part of the youth conference band for some sing-a-long numbers between the skits. She offered to play, then learned how in a month before the conference. She definitely made her grandpa proud.

Accordion girl playing "Skip to My Lou"

Saturday mornings testimony meeting was very nice. We had a one mile pull to the final picnic and drop off area. It was one big hill then a fairly level road. Chelsey decided she wanted to walk and help pull the handcart for the final mile. We were all packed and left with our group immediately after testimony meeting so that we could walk at a slower pace. It turned out perfectly. The rest of the handcart train did their final packing and policing of the area before they left. Those wagons caught up with us just as we were coming in to the picnic area.

More dinner prep. Lauren helping clean chickens.

We learned on trek that crossing the plains is really hard work. The kids kept their personal belongings to about 10 lbs each. But they found out how quickly that adds up to a really heavy weight and how bulky those belongings can be. I think if Trek lasted more than a couple of days, some of the kids would quickly be reevaluating what they really needed. The young men who are scouts had a great chance to brush up on their knots as they built shelters and moved the brake on the handcart. I think we did get an appreciation in a different way about the pioneers and their accomplishments. In particular, I looked at the amount of food that was required to keep the 120 or so of us fed. It made quite an impact to realize what it would take to feed a group several times that size over the months it took to cross the plains when they didn't have several trucks showing up to resupply them each evening. It was no wonder they were down to very small rations by the end of their journey.

You'd be tired too!

It really was a wonderful experience and I was glad to be able to share it with my teenagers.