Bates Motel: June 2008

Trek to Martin’s Cove
June 19-21 2008

I was fortunate enough to be able to go on the trek with our stake this past week. It was a wonderful experience. We left Thursday, June 19 at 4:30 am and arrived home Saturday, June 21 at 8 pm. Our stake has been planning this trek for several years now. We had over 300 people from our stake attend.

We left the stake center with 7 buses of “pioneers.” Our ward sent 40 trekkers and we had our own bus. Our bus was the only one of the 7 that didn’t have a functioning bathroom. We also had a deranged bus driver. Chan & I sat in the front row both ways and had the same crazy bus driver. I’m sure he had ADHD because he could not sit still. He twisted & turned & fidgeted & gazed out the window and played on the radio with the other bus drivers. Chan showed great control by not grabbing the steering wheel from him.

Chan and I were Ma & Pa to a great group of kids! We were initially concerned because we had 4 girls and 3 boys but the girls were troopers and worked just as hard as the boys. We had met with our kids a few times for activities before the trek. Our last meeting before the trek we decorated our “possibles bags” and served our kids buffalo burgers (from Costco). I bet the pioneers would have loved to have a buffalo burger!

When we arrived Thursday we picked up our handcarts and hiked to camp which was just over 2 miles away. Ma’s & Pa’s weren’t supposed to pull the handcart. That was a good thing because it was all I could do to push & pull Jeanne.

We made camp, ate dinner and had a square dance and other games. The stake provided meals so we didn’t have to cook. Chan arranged for all the tents for our ward and was busy setting them up. When he was done with everyone’s else’s tent he set ours up. Unfortunately, it was a donated tent he had forgotten to check before we left. It was tiny- it had to be a ½ person tent, and dirty. The cot he so thoughtfully brought for me could barely fit in it and the end poked out the door. He encouraged me to just lie down on the cot and try it. Being the good sport I am, and with my great love of camping, I obeyed my husband and lay down. Two inches from my face were smeared bugs and other filth. I suddenly became claustrophobic and bolted up- well I tried to bolt up- the tent was too low- and politely told him there was no way I was sleeping in that tent. Fortunately he had a back-up tent that worked just fine. What a soft life I lead!

Chan is the “MacGyver” of our ward. (If you don’t know who that is you’re too young for this blog!) He seemed to have everything anyone asked him for! I told Chan that taking me along on the trek was the price our ward had to pay to get him!

Friday morning we got up at 6 am to prepare for our hike into Martin’s Cove. Our family had breakfast clean-up duty so we had to hustle to be ready to leave on time.

We hiked about 6 miles that day. We heard inspirational messages from President Webb & Brother Camp along the way. We were instructed to hike in silence through Martin’s Cove as a sign of respect. It was a sacred place indeed.

We also crossed the Sweetwater River. The water was too deep for the handcarts so we crossed on foot. Even though the conditions were very different for our group, it was moving to cross where those brave people had crossed at such a high price so many years ago. I have a much greater appreciation for what these courageous people suffered through to get to Zion. What a great spirit was present.

On the hike back from the cove all the males were unexpectedly called away to fight in the Mormon Battalion. In 1856 the need to assist the United States Army in the Mexican war was urgent and the government enlisted a battalion of 500 Mormons for this purpose. Those who left their families to fight made the longest march in military history consisting of 2,000 miles from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Diego, California.

During this re-enactment, the men and women were separated and we listened to spiritual messages from our leaders. The men on the trek were asked to simulate being away from their wives, sisters and mothers by standing single file on the side of the very steep, sandy and rocky hill and the women were told we had to pull the handcarts up this hill without the help of the men.

The women sang Sisters in Zion and began our pull up the hill. It was a very steep, sandy hill and we all struggled. As we began to ascend the hill, we saw all of the men lining the path of the hill on both sides. The men had their hats over their hearts as a show of respect. The men were told they could not help us. No words were spoken. The only sound heard was the panting of the struggling women. As each handcart crested the hill, although the women were shaking with fatigue, the sisters would quickly drop their cart and go back down the hill to help the next group. This day was a day that touched many very deeply

A tired group hiked back to camp that night. After dinner we had a fireside with “Ephraim Hanks” telling us about his life. Ephraim was instrumental in the rescues of the saints at Marin’s Cove.

The next morning we broke camp and had a Morningside with President Webb. The weather was wonderful and the surrounding mountains and plains were breathtaking. Six of our youth bore very touching testimonies.

We then hiked back to the visitor’s center, picked up sack lunches and boarded the buses for home. The bishops of each ward provided a surprise of hot pizza waiting for us at a rest stop.

The trek was a wonderful, testimony building experience and I am very grateful I could go.

Some good sites to visit on the web are:

http://www.lds.org/gospellibrary/pioneer/28_Martins_Cove.html

http://www.handcart.com/

http://wyoshpo.state.wy.us/trailsdemo/martin's_cove.htm