What an amazing experience we had this past week at trek. It was one of the hardest things I have done in a long time but oh so worth it. Yes, I would do it again. We started out at 4 am Saturday morning. The kids all rode on school buses. We were hauling a trailer so we were in Jed's truck until....we got to the top of Parleys. Yep, we broke down. Jed was sure that the motor was toast. Pres. Droubay was behind us thank goodness. He stopped and they hoked on the trailer and took Carrie and Patric and we turned around and came home to grab our Xterra. We hurried as fast as we could back, we didn't want to miss anything. When we got to Evanston Wyoming we found out that one of the buses had broke down so we were not the last ones.
First stop - Martins Cove
We all arrived safely, even the broken down bus people. We went up to Dan's Cove and then did the river crossing. We camped over night at a camp ground.
Sunday
Sacrament meeting was amazing. What a great opportunity we had to have the sacrament out in the open with all of the youth. We then got to walk into Martins Cove and feel the spirit that was there. We then loaded up the buses and headed over to Sage Campground to set up for the night. That night was crazy. Rain, thunder, lightning, scarred kids, soaked tents, no sleep for the people in tents. Thank goodness Jed and I were in a trailer "roughing it" LOL....
Monday
14 miles to trek. Most people had no sleep. Ground was so muddy that it felt like 10 lb weights on the bottom of our feet. We still rolled out. We had 2 groups - the Smart group and the Droubay group. I was in the 1st group. I was so glad. I don't even know where to start.
Women's pull WOW. They had a speaker talk to us. Her husband is a paraplegic. He spoke to the men and she spoke to the women. She is so amazing. She talked about the story of Jens Jensen who was a big man and his wife a tiny woman that carried him in the hand cart because he was to sick. Then talked about our trials and are we going to be strong and faithful like this mans wife. After she spoke to the second group she did the women's pull and carried her husband up the hill in the handcart.
The 1st bog....lol was awful! It was so muddy and hard for the kids to go through. One group lost there lunch in the mud. They tried to save some of it. They were worried about what they were going to eat at lunch time. 10 hours is a long time to go with out food on a 14 mile hike. When we stopped for lunch we found out that they had not packed lunch for support. It was amazing how everyone pulled together and both the family and support staff were fed and fed well.
I have never walked so far and wanted so badly to be to the end. It was hard! When I reached almost the end, Jed ran up and met me and walked the last 1/2 mile with me. We went back to camp and helped with dinner.
I was so tired that I told Jed "I have to go rest". He said "if you feel the trailer move, don't worry, we are just taking it to the parking lot for the night. So here I am resting and I hear the door close. "no prob, they are just going to park". The truck starts up and it drives up the hill and then over some cattle guards and drove on and on (it felt like forever) I start to freak. I grabbed my phone and text Jed "WHERE ARE THEY TAKING ME"? I then called him and he said, "they just pulled into the parking lot". Shewwww! Then I hear them all talking outside the trailer. Jed "did you know my wife was in the trailer"? OMG I thought they were all going to die laughing. It was quit the experience. Steve apologized over and over again. I thought it was funny-after it was over. A ride I will always remember.
Dirty, hot, tired, burned, I was ready to come home. Not ready to face the trial of a truck. Not knowing what we were going to do. We don't have the money to buy a new truck. We worried! It took Jed a while to take a look at his truck. I was getting ready to bite the bullet and apply for a loan. When he finally looked at it, it wasn't as bad as he thought. He was able to fix it. I know it was a trial, maybe even apart of the trek experience but I feel like we were blessed.
I am so grateful for what we have. I don't think I could have been a pioneer but I do know that they suffered so that they could worship the way that they wanted to so I could too. I am so thankful to them.
Sorry such a long post, I just don't want to forget this grate opportunity that we had. Life changing!!
