Bryce and I had the most amazing experiences on Trek. We had wonderful "children" that we were in charge of. We were an Aunt and Uncle to 20 kids-2 families. And, Bryce was a Captain over 40, or 4 families. Everything went really well. We came home physically and emotionally exhausted, but it was worth it!
Our first stop at a rest area in Lyman Wyoming, still looking fresh!
Day 1- We started at the Willie Center. Everyone was so excited to get going!
We went 4 miles and had 5 river crossings. It was so hot that they were refreshing.
We had to keep remembering that the pioneers in the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies did this in freezing temps with little or no food and sparse clothing.
It was humbling.
Beautiful Sunset
Day 2- Rocky Ridge- This is the actual Rocky Ridge
The whole trail was 15 miles, but this part was the hardest. I can only say that there had to have been angels pushing and pulling with those pioneers. There was a blizzard blowing and 12-18 inches of snow on the ground for them. Again, very humbling....
Our fearless leader! He got to give an impromptu speech at the marker for Rocky Ridge.
He did a great job!
There were quite a few mud bogs to cross! Bryce dug in and helped!
This cute boy helped his family and then a bunch more get across so not everyone had to get muddy. He was so happy and cheerful all the time!
Day 3- Martin's Cove
The actual cove was nothing like I expected. This is part of it. This is where the Martin Company hunkered down to wait out the storm. This was before they met the large rescue party, so there were quite a few deaths. They estimate around 56 people died here.
This is a few from farther out. The spirit was very strong in all of these places.
They have a few statues in honor of the rescuers that came and helped the companies across the Sweetwater. They truly saved many lives by carrying many across.
The Women's Pull. This is where only the girls are allowed to pull the handcart. It was a very sandy hill and very difficult. We had one of our families that only had 4 girls and one was sick so she had to be pulled. The one in front couldn't do it alone so halfway up a girl from another family jumped ahead and helped finish.
It was so hard to watch them struggle and not be able to help!
Near the end of Day 3. We don't look too bad I guess for all we had been through!
Family 1
Family 2
We are so grateful for all the experiences we were able to share with these amazing youth!
Bryson at the first lookout
Alyssa- the Cactus Hugger??? 
