Wagons Ho!

Our adventures along the
Oregon/Mormon/California Trail began on Tuesday July 21st. About 300 youth and adults climbed aboard 3 buses and rode out to Martin's Cove in Wyoming.

All dressed in pioneer clothing we made quite a scene as we stopped at Little America. One lady thought we were Amish, and a few other people thought we belonged to the FLDS church.

We passed Independence Rock on our way. It is the first picture. Early western travelers hoped to get to this landmark by Independence Day.

Our next stop was Martin's Cove. A group of saints traveling in 1856 did not make it to Independence Rock by the 4th of July. They were there a few months after that, sometime around October 6.

We walked through the cove and learned that during an early winter storm about 145 out of the 500 people died. We pushed a pulled handcarts for about 3 miles until we got to our campsite.

Just as we were getting ready to go to bed that night, a storm came and just about destroyed all of our tents. The wind was blowing so hard that I decided to sit inside of the tent so that it wouldn't blow away. This worked out well until it started to rain and the tent leaked. The tent leaked so much that Marty wore his rain poncho inside of the tent. I was too busy holding up the sides so that my sleeping gear would not get soaked. Experiencing this storm reminded us how the weather in Wyoming could really be wild.

On Wednesday we hiked for about 8 miles. That was a fairly easy day. I found myself quite at home at the teacher's desk in an early 19th century school house. Sarah found herself right at home in the "dunce's" chair.








We hiked along the trail and saw pretty much the same scenery all along the way. I don't think that the sites along the trail have changed all that much in the last 153 years.








Later in the afternoon we crossed the "Sweet Water River at "6 Crossing" My only wish was that it was deeper. I was hot and could have used a swim!





On Thursday we trekked about 15 miles. To occupy the time, I taught the group the singing battle game that Joe and I played last year on the Colorado River. It was amazing how a singing competition helped the teenagers to not focus on the over 100 degree heat and the huge blisters they were developing. By the time we got into camp we all had a little heatstroke and a few blisters. I took it upon myself to keep the group as cool as I could. I brought a spray bottle with me and would mist the group as often as I could. I also passed out fruit leather and candy. This was my way of getting teenagers to walk with me.

Later that night I taught the girls how to wash their hair using the warm water left over in their water bottles. They were so grateful for clean hair. When I passed out the facial wipes they were so happy. They didn't think washing their hair was even possible in the middle of no where. I attribute these survival skills to my many months in Arkansas without any running water as we were building the house.

With clean hair and faces we were ready for the square dancing that evening. Joe was in the band and played as everyone danced. I think he would have rather danced.

Tragedy struck during the night as both Marty and I passed away and became angels. There were 2 reasons we didn't make it all the way past Rocky Ridge this time. Marty was not doing well at all as we hiked the 15 miles on fairly level ground, and I need to catch a flight from Casper Wyoming on my way to Arkansas.

This morning after we helped our group for the last time we got into an air conditioned car and drove the 90 miles to the airport.



Casper Wyoming is a pretty small city. It is right next to the North Platte River. I went on a little bike/walking tour after I took a long hot shower. Here are a few pictures from Casper Wyoming.