LOTS AND LOTS OF TREKKING!

The past three weeks have been full of treks.  

Hooray!  

Our missionaries have been preparing for this 
ever since they arrived in April and May, and finally . . . 
trekking season is definitely ON!

 Trekkers arrive in all types of vehicles.   

Some come in cars with a variety of trucks and trailers bringing their food . . .

. . . some come in big fancy buses . . .

. . . some come in school buses.

They must all bring medical personnel and a medical vehicle in case of problems.  They park those vehicles at Base, and  because our missionaries are in constant radio contact with each group, we can send help within minutes if there is an emergency. 
Our two biggest problems, however, are blisters (caused by not wearing comfortable or broken-in shoes) and dehydration (caused by not drinking enough water in this dry, windy part of the country.)  

 As soon as the trekkers arrive they spill out of their vehicles and fill up our whole site with their happy, smiling, beautiful faces!

 

 

 These trekkers are ready to get out on the trail!

Trekking groups camp in a variety of tents:

 Some are quite unique . . .

. . . some are all the same . . .

. . . some are pretty luxurious!

 Each ward, stake, and family group has its own unique way of storing, preparing, and cooking their food.  Sometimes they are feeding 50 and sometimes they are feeding over 700!

 These specialty cooking vehicles fed over 500 people for 4 days!

Check out this unique cooking unit.  WOW!

 
EVERYONE needs to use the potties, and we just acquired 8 brand new, sweet-smelling, spotlessly clean port-a-potties at Handcart Parking!  This actually helps with the timing of the treks.  Just imagine how long it would take for over 700 kids to use 4 bathrooms.  Figure 3 minutes per person - and do the math!  

Now we have added 8 more and it makes a BIG difference!

We LOVE seeing all these terrific kids out on the trails!

We especially love the way they tenderly care for those who are not able to walk, and we SO appreciate the wonderful new rickshaws that were made by members of the Casper Stake!

We sometimes wonder what our dear handcart pioneers would think about all these trekkers trying to reenact their experience.

Here you can see three trek groups at the same time.  The one in the foreground is heading out to Cherry Creek Campground along the Sand Trail, and in the background you can see two other large treks just getting ready to pass each other on the Front Trail.  It was a busy day here, and there were four other trek groups:   at Handcart Parking, in two of the amphitheaters, and up in Martin's Cove.

In addition to lots of trekkers, we also have hundreds and hundreds of visitors each day!

Every Thursday afternoon a tour bus arrives here about 4:30 pm full of Chinese and other Asian tourists.  They go through the Visitors' Center first, and then they scatter all over taking pictures of everything.  We are prepared for them and have many church pamphlets and Books of Mormon in the languages they speak.

We discovered that if we pulled out one of our handcarts, 

it became their favorite photo spot.

We love and appreciate ALL our visitors and trekkers 

no matter what method they use to get here!

Come and see us!

WE WELCOMED SPECIAL VISITORS

This week started out with a long-awaited visit from Chris Billings, our liaison with the Missionary Department.  We appreciate him coming to visit our site and see its beauties and feel the spirit here.  Even though he is young (some of our missionaries wondered why Elder Moench was taking a high school kid all over the site) he is very knowledgeable and listened to us so he could understand our challenges and to help us find solutions.

Chris gave a wonderful training session at both sites and helped us analyze our Missionary Purpose Statement and implement it into what we do each day with visitors, trekkers, and each other.  He even used his height to change the battery in a clock high on the wall of the Sixth Crossing Trek Center kitchen! 

On Friday President and Sister Anderson came to Casper for a conference with his missionaries there, and he brought his 10 senior couples with him on a visit to Martin's Cove including the Ferrins and the Schills.  None of them were able to walk the trails so we took them in rovers to the Martin's Cove overlook and monument where Elder Moench and Elder Bushman talked to them and told them pioneer stories.  

We also showed them Fort Seminoe and then fed them dinner.  After that all our missionaries were able to attend a fireside given by President and Sister Anderson at which he gave all of us a beautiful blessing.  Then they took time to let each of our missionary couples take a picture with them before they headed back to Casper and then on to Rapid City - a six hour drive.

The family of Gideon Williams, who made us 2 rickshaws for his Eagle Project this spring, came for a family baptism and brought some brass plaques to put on those rickshaws so we would always remember who made them. 

Gideon is currently serving in the Utah East Mission.

Saturday evening was warm and peaceful and calm.  It was beautiful to look around the buildings at the Homestead . . .

. . . and to look down towards the baptism area on the banks of the Sweetwater River - one of my favorite spots on the whole site . . .

. . . and then to look up at the triplex where we live and see the sky on fire behind it!

We truly love the beauties of Martin's Cove!  

These pictures were taken just as the grasses and plants were their very greenest . . .

. . . and now they have all gone to seed, coloring the landscape a light tan and making it look dry.

This will be our last summer here.  Come and see us!!

HAPPY FATHERS' DAY !!

There isn't a lot of fanfare for Fathers' Day 
when you're far away from all your children . . . 

. . .  but visiting The Sinks was a fun little side trip last week.  An amazing amount of water rushes down the river and then disappears into a cavern that goes underground . . . 

. . . only to reappear about a quarter of a mile down the canyon in a calm and placid pool called The Rise where enormous fish live, protected from any fisherman's pole.

We also stopped for an ice cream cone at a little place in Lander 
where the tables and chairs were made of beautiful wood.

Happy Fathers' Day to both fathers and grandfathers!

Happy Fathers' Day to all our missionary fathers 

who are away from their children!

(It's a little handcart tie tack or lapel pin)

A great Fathers' Day gift for our missionaries was the added blessing today of having President and Sister Lorimer bring Elder Don R. Clarke of the Seventy with them to attend our block of meetings, our Pot Luck dinner afterward, and then to speak to us at the Trek Center for a little fireside!  

This is Elder and Sister Clarke, Brother and Sister Sheets, President and Sister Lorimer and us.  We always tell our missionaries to offer to take pictures of our guests with a handcart  so they will remember their visit to 
Mormon Handcart Historic Sites!

A GIFT OF LOVE!

Yesterday evening a truck pulled into Mormon Handcart Historic Sites 

carrying a trailer loaded with rickshaws!

These rickshaws look similar to our handcarts, but they are made with steel frames and bicycle tires instead of wooden wheels.  

They allow those who cannot walk to still participate and ride along when their stake, ward, or family group comes to trek the pioneer trails at Martin's Cove, Sixth Crossing, or Rocky Ridge.  

It is a sweet experience both for those who ride and for those who pull them.

Last year there were times when every one of our rickshaws was out on the trail and others were desperately needed, so we asked the Casper Stake for help and told them that if any of their youth needed an Eagle Scout project or any kind of service project, making rickshaws for MHHS would certainly be appreciated.  Gideon Williams from Glenrock made two of them earlier this year.

And last evening . . .

. . . this amazing gift arrived:  seven beautiful rickshaws!

They personalized each one with a beautiful and unique metal design.

In another few weeks our own children who are in wheelchairs will be here for the baptism of our grandson Isaac, and we will be able to take them up the trail through Martin's Cove in comfort and style!

We were told that all those who participated in this project had a wonderful time and little miracles happened along the way.

We are SO grateful to Bishop Bruce Gallup and all those in the Casper 5th Ward who spent hours and hours plus time and money to give such a great gift to those who could not come here otherwise!

Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!