Trek

This year for Youth Conference, the Stake Young Men's and Young Women's Presidencies decided to create their own version of the 'Pioneer Trek'.

They bused us up to a place called Cascade Springs (right above the Sundance Resort).
That is where our adventure started...

The first day was a short 5 miles up the canyon on dirt roads. We were lucky enough to have running water, flushable toilets and a picnic table when we reached our campsite. We were not so lucky the following night.

The next day was a grueling 10 miles on much worse roads. Huge rocks and gravel are not the best surface for traveling by handcart.

In my family (the Baileys) we had Amy Despain, Ruth Ann and myself as the Ma's. Tarah, Kendra, Hillary, and Ludmilla (or Lou as we like to call her), were the girls, along with 4 boys from other wards. Since we didn't have a big strong Pa, we were at a disadvantage, but that didn't stop us from keeping up with all of the other families.

By the end of the second day, two girls had to be taken off of the mountain, one boy had to have an IV, and hundreds of blisters had to be covered. Luckily, Bishop Hutchison and his nurse were there; those two worked overtime taking care of those in need.

The third day was a little scary. What took 5 hours to go up, took 30 minutes to come down. The dirt road we went down was very steep and once again covered in rocks. We had to get sticks and place them against the wheels to act as the brakes and then we tied ropes that had sticks tied to the end of them to hold the cart so it wouldn't go crashing down the mountain.

It was the most physically, emotionally and mentally draining experience of my life.

I have never been more impressed with a group of girls. Tarah wasn't feeling well, but you would have never known it -- she didn't complain even once and did everything we asked. Hillary had a blister on every toe. She proudly showed them to us on the second day as Amy cut a piece of moleskin for each one. Despite that, she pushed and pulled just as hard as the rest of us. Kendra was amazing. She would take over pushing for one of the boys and we almost had to run to keep up with the cart. Ludmilla was all over the place, relieving people with a smile on her face, she probably pushed (and talked) more than anyone.

I loved getting to know Amy and Ruth Ann a little better. Amy is so organized, we could never have done it without her. She kept everything as clean as possible. Ruth Ann is the most positive person I have ever met. The last night we were laying in the tent on some very bumpy ground and Amy turned to Ruth Ann and said, "Quick, tell me something positive. Ruth Ann said, "Well, we get to go home tomorrow!"

It was an adventure to say the least and one I won't soon forget!