Trek...again...

Every four years, our church makes it's youth dress up in old-timey clothes and wander the woods for a few days pulling hand carts.  They do it to have the kids experience a fraction of what pioneers experienced a hundred and a half years ago.  You see, pioneers are a big part of our religion.  To find a safe place to practice their religion, our pioneer ancestors fled West to the Utah territories.  The stores of these pioneers are amazing and heartbreaking.  Four years ago, Lorien got to go on Trek.   Now it was Wyatt's turn!

A week before Trek some of Clare's friends who were on the edge of the age cut off decided they were going to go on Trek too.  So Clare got the opportunity to go early and we sent her.  Actually, Lorien got to go a year early too because of our decision to homeschool and bump her up a year.  I guess we like to send our girls off on Trek when they are young. 

We packed their buckets and sent them off with Dave and Angela (who were going as a Ma and Pa for a Trek family) to wander the woods for the week.  We didn't hear from them at all but prayed they were safe and that they might be having fun.  It was hot, hot, HOT in Danville last week and I worried a lot about my kids (where ever they were).  Turns out they were up in the Sierra Nevadas and it was a good 25-30 degrees cooler.  Whew!

Clare loved her Trek family, it was made up of about 70% of Wyatt's friends.  Wyatt didn't love his Trek family as much.  He still had a good time and they both came back with stories to tell.  Wyatt's most memorable story: winning the cow patty throwing competition.  Clare's most memorable story: the women's pull day. 

They came home filthy but smiling.  We were glad to have them back! 

This is the second time I've sent kids on Trek and my feelings have been the same.  As Trek time approaches, I do not like Trek.  I find the idea sacrilegious almost.  I feel like my religious culture has a habit of over edifying casual things and treating casual holy things.  Ask me about it in person sometime, I have a soapbox.  Anyway, I feel like our pioneer ancestors are rolling in their graves over these kids pretending to do this impossible thing in an era far removed from the actual dangers the pioneers lived in.  It feels troublesome and worrying to me.  Then my kids go on Trek and come back with amazing stories and experiences and I am grateful for Trek.  For the very least that they were off screens and phones for the whole week doing something hard.  Someday I'll catch the Trek spirit before my kids leave for Trek...someday.

PS Some of Lorien's experiences: the women's pull and winning a two-lips kissing game against Jaren Garff.  She also had a different walking/hiking experience from Wyatt and Clare.  Lorien walked for a total of fewer than 20 miles the whole week.  Wyatt and Clare walked nearly 20 miles every day!  Lorien's group would walk for a little bit and meet a group doing a reenactment, walk for a little bit and have a snack, walk for a little bit and meet another reenactment, break for a meal, etc.  Wyatt and Clare just walked, and walked, and walked...forever!