Trek

Trek was supposed to start on Wednesday, but on Tuesday evening we got phone calls, emails, and texts letting us know there was a severe thunder storm warning for the area we’d be in and that trek would be postponed one day. The kids were severely disappointed when they woke up Wednesday morning to find that instead of spending the day at friends’ houses, it would be a normal day with swim team and music practice. They rallied their spirits reasonably well, however, and while it was a bummer, it turned out to be a blessing in many ways that we were home one more day. Matthew had a really productive day at work and was able to talk to the manager of the group he hopes to get into about a permanent job after WIP is over. Several other people I talked to had things in their personal lives that needed attention and though most of us were sad to miss out on a day of hiking and camping, most were also grateful things worked out the way they did.

We got up early on Thursday and donned our pioneer clothes. We dropped the kids off at the Jolley’s at 7:30 and collected Dave and all his personal and medical gear, as he was the trek doctor. There were specific directions to the rally point about 2 hours North in the Jemez mountains. Though there are a couple ways to get there, we were explicitly instructed to take the route through Cuba. The reason they gave was that the roads on the slightly shorter route that Google was likely to suggest were not as good. Matthew really wanted to take a third route, through Jamez Springs and the mountains. I felt uncomfortable about this and asked him repeatedly about he quality of the roads and his confidence that they were passable. He reassured me over and over that he was familiar with the roads and that there was nothing regarding them to worry about. Instead of heeding the uneasy feeling I had, I acquiesced and we headed into the mountains. As Matthew expected, the roads were just fine and the views were beautiful. We did miss a turn, but easily retraced our steps and got back on track without loosing too much time. The forest service road we were on, which is a legal public road, runs through a Girl Scout camp that boarders the area we where we were trekking. The gate was open and we were on schedule to arrive at 9:30, half an hour early. With about 7 minutes to our final destination and less than a mile from the camp’s exit, an extremely unpleasant ranger for the camp pulled his vehicle in front of us and without listening to a word we had to say insisted that we turn around and leave the way we came. He was threatening and rude and absolutely unwilling to reason with us. When he started trying to run his truck into us, we conceded that there was no other option than to retreat. It was possibly the most horrible encounter I’ve ever had with another human being. Without being able to go through the camp, the only way to get to trek was to drive 2.5 hours back to the highway and follow the original directions. Once we were outside the camp, we stopped to say a prayer. I asked Heavenly Father to forgive me for not heeding the promptings He gave me, and prayed that the group would get started without us as there was no cell service and we couldn’t get word to them regarding our situation.

Those at trek waited for us for about half an hour, then decided to get started. Luckily, the plan for the first couple hours was to hike a half mile semi circle across a bridge to the other side of the river at the rally point, where they then stopped for the telling of some pioneer stories followed by the river crossing. Though we arrived two hours late, we got there just as they were about to begin crossing the river. We waded across the river as everyone cheered, joined our family - the conKRESStadors, and turned right around to cross the river again. Despite my disobedience, the lesson was learned with very little inconvenience to anyone else. I am grateful for that.

After the river crossing, we dried our feet, changed our shoes, and ate our sack lunches. The rest of trek went as smoothly and without incident as could possibly be hoped for. The kids in our family were awesome and everyone seemed to have a great time. The couple in charge did a fantastic job of adapting the routes and activities to compensate for our missed day, and nobody could have guessed that nearly all of their contingency plans got put into use. Our new 3+ man tent was quick and easy to set up and extremely comfortable for the two of us. I really liked my new Big Agnes sleeping bag/mat system and slept better than I ever have done camping. The second night we had square dancing and games and a big fire. The food was great, the pioneer stories were great, the roads were dry, and the weather couldn’t have been nicer. It really was just perfect. We are grateful for the Jensen’s, the Jolley’s, and Cassie and Beto for helping with the kids while we were gone and making it possible for us to serve.

We finished up around noon on Saturday, and after staying to help pack up and make sure all the youth were adequately collected, we made our way home (the Cuba route). We arrived around 4:00 and were home just long enough to shower and put a few things away before heading back out for an evening with the kids. Matthew purchased tickets for a BCHA movie event at the Kimo Theater. We watched several short bow hunting documentaries and participated in some raffles. It turned out to be a much later night than we anticipated, but Hyrum got a hat, Mercy won a shirt, Matthew won a membership to an archery range, and it was great to be together as a family.