zion's walk 2012

Last week was pioneer trek for our stake.  Adam and I got the idea last October that it would be really fun to participate, but we were quickly shot down since they apparently had more volunteers than jobs for them.  Then, last month we discovered they had decided not to let pregnant women go on the trek, disqualifying 1 in 7 of the participating couples.  We gladly hopped on board and quickly got ready.  We had some equipment to buy and gather, and a lot of working out to do!  Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the actual trail, but it was great.  Ups, downs, bumpy, flat, steep, dirty, and rough.  But we had an amazing experience.

The question we got more than any other was:  Who has the kids?  We lucked out and found two married couples without kids of their own who accepted the challenge.  They insisted the kids were great while we were gone, and I'm pretty sure they were.  It was really hard to leave little Samuel, but he is so good with other people I knew he would be okay.  


This is our amazing family.  5 boys, 4 girls, every single one a hard worker and determined to keep going.  We had one visit to the medic for a benadryl since the dust was crazy, and a blister (mine).  We were very lucky to have such a healthy family.  We walked past many families with only a few pushing because everyone else had injuries.  We felt very blessed.

Here we are!  Ma and Pa Jardine!  We found everything we are wearing at a thrift store.  Score!

Stick pull competition.  Pa Jardine did win out in the end, but this kid put up a serious fight.

Putting our cart together.  Below is what our carts looked like when we arrived at the site.  It was pretty easy to put them together, but we did have to work together.



Heading out on the trail for the first night.  We walked about 3 hours, a total of 6 miles, 2 in the dark.  These kids were such troopers.  That night was a rough one.  We slept outside, without a tent and it was SOOOO cold!  We woke up with frost on our sleeping bags and I don't think anyone got any sleep.



We even got to do a little goat milking!  The had a day of activities where we visited a store, played games, shot rifles, and did some skeet shooting.  Our stake decided not to have us experience the food that handcart companies did, so we had chili, steak, pulled pork sandwiches, apple pie, brownies, and even french fries.  I was honestly hoping to drop a few pounds with 20 miles of hiking over 3 days, but no.  I came home 2 pounds heavier!  We ate so good!

We learned a lot of lessons on the trek.  Here are just a few:
*I got a blister the first night and took care of it myself.  It still hurt but I didn't think it was a big enough deal to visit the medic.  I hiked to more days with mild pain, figuring there wasn't anything more that could be done.  Finally I went to the medic who took care of it even better and I had no pain.  I didn't think that was possible because my blister was so huge, but with the right equipment I was healed.  What a great metaphor for the atonement and repentance.
*On the trail the cart in front of us broke down.  We ran to their aid and offered to take their load in our cart.  We only packed the essentials since there were trucks to take everything else.  It worked out, but water breaks took twice as long, and they had a lot of injured members so we had to stop and wait several times.  It got a little frustrating, and I had to keep reminding myself to be charitable.  Then when it came time for Rocky Ridge, we were so grateful that we had the extra help.  We always get blessings for service, and you never know when your time of need will come.
*We did a women's pull, where they sent off the men to serve in the Mormon Battalion.  One family had lost their Ma, and we had the extra family with us.  However, our extra family only had two girls that really could help.  We went back and forth with what to do, having three families and two handcarts and when it came down to it, it was decided that our family, with 4 strong girls and me, would help both carts in the women's pull.  Our girls were so brave and excited to make it work.  We talked about humility, and how the Lord had kept us healthy so we could help those around us.  We prayed, and got ourselves pumped up for the unknown.  Then, the other family decided they didn't need us after all, we would instead pull our own cart, with our stuff and theirs while they worked with the other family.  Sometimes our pride shows itself it unknown ways, sometimes we have to choose not to be offended when we are not needed.  Sometimes we need to be ready to help, even in a big way, and remain charitable when our help is rejected.

We learned so much!  It was such a great experience!