Pioneer Trek 2010

I've been on two pioneer treks before back when I was a teenager and both gave me very rewarding experiences.  This trek was different though.  Maybe because I understand more about what the people of the Willie and Martin Handcart company went through.  Maybe because now I've been through the temple and have made the same covenants that gave them the strength to sacrifice everything for the church.  Maybe it's because I've learned more about my family history and have now made the complete journey of the Campkins from Biggleswade England to Perry Utah. 

Although this trek experience was threatened by people's shortsightedness and lack of faith in callings, I choose to remember the good things and the lessons I've learned.  My first of the big take aways came from Martin's Cove.  The wearied travelers had little food, thin clothing and were hit with an early snowfall.  When they were just about to perish (and many of them did), the rescuers came.  But their trial wasn't over.  They weren't life flighted to SLC nor did the rescuers come with a Thanksgiving feast.  They were given strength and reinforcements, but the trial wasn't over.  They still had to endure the cold and walk almost 300 miles to get to their destination. They still had to hang on and fight for their lives.

The second big lesson I learned came on the morning of our last day.  The previous day we had trekked 15 miles which included going over Rocky Ridge and through mud bogs.  We were tired and sore and beat up.  We slept at Rock Creek Hollow that night...the site where the Willie Handcart Company sought refuge from the same early winter storm.  When I work up at 6:30am, it was 37 degrees and we were freezing.  When the Willie Company camped there, it was -11 degrees.  On my trek, we were fed really well, had plenty of water, had good warm clothing and great sleeping bags and tents...and we were still cold.  It's true that the Willie company lost 15 people that night...but the real miracle is that they all didn't perish that night.  What a humbling realization in the morning of the last day.  I'm very grateful for this trek experience and all that it taught me.