When I got back from Trek my children were still alive. Josh did great despite his depiction in his comic. I don't know how I can condense this post without missing something that I would like to remember in the future, so sorry if it's long winded.
The drive there was LONG!!! 7+ hours! The first two hours were the worst because one of the older ladies that were traveling with us was sick. She was either puking or having issues with the other end, so every 5 minutes we had to stop and pull over to let her go to the bathroom. Try finding a bathroom every 5 minutes up Logan canyon... not fun & definitely not easy. Finally we got to
Kemmerer Wyoming, where we were scheduled to have breakfast. She was still sick, so Denise & I told one of the men that was in charge of transportation that she needed to go home. Another lady in our car preceded to tell us that we didn't have "enough faith that she would get better." After we received that verbal beating we didn't say anything more on the subject, except that she probably needed a blessing. After the blessing she was fine the rest of the way there. Lesson learned.
I was called to be part of the Medical staff, & the day before I was called to be part of the food committee, because some really responsible adults backed out at the VERY last minute. These two jobs allowed me to really be involved with the kids all day, because I was either feeding them, fixing their feet, or giving them
meds. I really enjoyed working with the kids & staying away from the stuffy adults. Although having these two jobs was really time consuming. I was always busy and running all over the place, I, to be honest, loved being busy and being the one to help people. It felt good.
The first day we were right by devils gate, at the visitors center. They showed us a video of a journal entry from a boy who came through there. It was really sad. He found his dad frozen to death under a hand cart, then had to go tell his mom and sisters that he died. What a hard experience for a 14 year old kid. The pioneer kids really had to grow up so fast. The missionaries there expressed the importance of writing in a journal so that we don’t end up a grave stone with no memories to pass down. That is one reason I really like blogging, it’s a fast and easy way to keep a journal and scrapbook at the same time. We hiked about five miles this first day, thankfully it wasn't longer due to the fact that this was the hottest day.
Thankfully it was the day we crossed the
Sweetwater River which cooled us off. They told the boys that they could carry the girls over but I think the girls were too afraid, so not many did.
This is a picture of the kids heading out the second day. It was so beautiful, the sun was shining through the clouds. It was a perfect start to the day! We hiked 8+ miles.
We went up to Martins Cove, and we were able to see where they camped out and where they buried their dead. It was really humbling to hear of all the struggles that they went through for the Gospel. We were behind schedule the whole day which was really stressful. After the hike they bused us to Independence Rock. My whole life I have loved to climb rocks like that but this time was a little different. I was the only Medical staff that climbed up the rock with a million kids. All the boys had to show off their sweet skills and jump across 8+ foot crevasses that were 20 feet deep. Long story short... I had a panic attack and scared some of the guys in my ward, who promptly stopped jumping when they saw me break down into tears. Yes, I was totally embarrassed but was surprised how worried I made the boys. They took care of me the rest of the day. :) This night we camped at a nasty, mosquito infested, cow farm... complete with fences and cow patties! Some of the boys wanted to try and burn the partially dried cow pies, but after the experience turned out to be quite stinky (just like I predicted) they never asked to do that again. This was the night before the long hike, so we, as the medical staff set up a table for all the kids and adults to come to if they had any problems. We had a ton of people with problems from their head to their feet. I gave out a ton of
meds, popped & bandaged a billion blisters, and even managed to convince three boys to put Vick's on their chaffing (probably the best experience of the whole trip). After that they called me the Devil Vick's Lady!
YAY!!! It did help them by the way when they woke up the next morning, the chaffing was gone and they were grateful. I really had such a great time with the kids getting to know everyone of them and by the end they all knew me by name.
We woke up the next morning at 4 something to get breakfast ready, and so we could leave by 5
ish. Then we headed out... after a couple of miles we hit rocky ridge and the men went off to
join the army which left the women to pull the hand carts. It was awesome to watch the boys leave and keep looking back to see if the girls were going to make it without them. The girls were ready, and when we started they were all doing pretty well, but then they hit the steeper part of the hill and I had to run up to be in between two carts that were lagging behind, I pushed one and pulled the other, to get us caught up. I had to work so hard that I missed seeing the boys faces as
we walked past them (they were standing on the sides of the trail with their hats over their hearts, crying). It was an awesome feeling to see how it touched these boys/men. They all ran to find their families and I think from then on most of them pulled the rest of the way there. We had to cross 3 streams and 1 cow pie infested, stagnant water hole. When you stepped in it the cow pies would squish between your toes, I gaged the whole way through. The boys laughed at me. We also were being followed by the "Trail Nazi," a really rude missionary who felt like yelling, literally YELLING, at any person who stepped a toenail off the trail that wasn't even a half a foot wider than the hand carts. She yelled at me and told me that I she was going to write us up if I didn't get back on the trail. Of course, after I explained to her that her husband, who was at the front of the line, had given me permission to walk on the side because I was medical, she wasn't able to say another thing to me the rest of the way there. Oh the sweet satisfaction, of being right, in the face of a know-it-all... priceless!
Every 4 miles or so they would have a rest stop, complete with really stinky port-a-potties. The kids were all grateful for any stop we would make. Which only meant more work for me because all of their shoes came off, exhibiting their new blisters which needed fixing before we got started on the trail again. I've never touched so many feet in my life! The last bathroom break before we got into camp, everyone was really hot and tired, so while the other medical staff were fixing the feet I sprayed everyone with water. I walked up and down the line spraying everyone with a (clean) weed sprayer that some nice old man gave me at the last camp. I think people thought I was spraying them with weed killer, but amazingly they didn't protest. I don't think I stopped walking the entire trek.
The last four miles were tough on everyone so I, while everyone was walking, would go up and down the line
makin jokes, (mostly about the "chaffing boys" who were now walking like they just finished riding a massive, 9 month pregnant, bull). They were so cute! One girl got stung by this nasty little Caterpillar that had stinkers all over its body. So I had it in a cup and told the boys mostly, not to touch it. Somehow at the last mile I ended up at the front, Me and some boys that followed me really wanted to run because the pace we were going was killing our legs, but they wouldn't let us. That last mile I really felt every ache that I had done so good at ignoring. When we finally made it to camp all the tents were set up and the people who couldn't come on the hike were cheering. It felt good but all I wanted to do was sit... so being the very mature leader that I am, me and a lot of the kids ran for the river/stream and jumped in. It felt SO good on my tired muscles and sore feet, we sat there for so long. We even convinced the chaffing boys to sit in the cold water, promising them that it would make them feel better. Then we all promptly got out when
Mckay picked up a cow pie at the bottom of the stream! Dang cows!!!
The last day before we left we had a testimony meeting, it was really awesome to hear these kids and how strong their testimonies were, most of them, stronger then mine. One boy got up who was probably only 14 years old, just bawling. He started by saying that he wanted to talk about trials. He said, " I want to tell you about a trial that I had about two months ago... My mom left us... she left us for another man. I struggled with who to blame. I really wanted to blame God, so I talked to my bishop and asked him why God didn't make it so she never left or she never got that job where she would meet that man. My Bishop told me that it would take away her free agency and that was something God promised never to do. Just like the pioneers who had so many trials for their faith, god couldn't take away their natural consequences, even though he probably wished he could." It this point I was sobbing so loud I couldn't hear anything else, but the sheer pain this boy must be going through. I just wished that I could have filmed his testimony and sent a copy to his mother, to show her what she is doing to her son. I was so heart broken for him. There were many other amazing testimonies, all of which filled me with the spirit. It was the perfect end to such a great experience. I completely recommend going on Trek if you ever have the option, it was amazing!
Once upon a time there was a cute, spikey Horney Toad. His name was Spikey. He lived on the third floor of a magical place called Hanbury Manor. His most favorite thing to do was hide under the warm sand of his humble abode, only to come out if there were delicious, black ants to devour. 
