2-80 Year Olds on the Trail

Tuesday around here has become known as "Toilet Tuesdays"  That is when the Sister missionaries clean the port a jons from last weeks treks.  They are pumped and semi cleaned by a company out of Evanston and then we go in and do a thorough cleaning.  Half of our missionaries left this week because we only had two treks scheduled.  We had a trek so 5 of us sisters got to clean 66 port a jons.  That was a long and hot day, but the task was completed.  We then watered lawns and trees.
Wednesday found us welcoming the Cedar City Mountain View Ward.  They had 99 trekkers ages 2 years to 80.

Cedar City Mountain View Ward

 This is our first trek with little kids and it presented us with a lot of new dynamics.  The little kids energy never failed but the older ones were like us, tired after a long day of trekking.

They had ice cream at the end of a hot trek and this little guy was diving in!

Little ones playing in the dirt and having a great time.

Stick pull is always a favorite game they play.  I don't know if you can see the faces on these little girls but they were not about to give up!

Tug of war is always fun.  Notice the beautiful sky and the port a jons in the back ground.  TEE HEE

 There was also some crying babies, and frustrated parents.  Our medical issues were next to nothing as the kids would just go to their parents with blisters and complaints. We had 8 handcarts with actual families and sometimes 2 families to a cart.  They had built covers for three of the carts which came in handy for the little ones that rode some of the time.

four cute pioneer girls with their cart

hand cart trek moving out.  Notice how dry it is!

 Again we had no rain and it was HOT.  It set new records for heat up here.  Two of the days it was in the low 90s in the afternoon.  Thankfully there is usually a breeze to help with the heat.  We had the largest dust devil I have ever seen blow right down our trail and folks were grabbing their hats.  I am sorry I did not get a picture of it, but you will have to believe I thought it was a tornado!  We have a shade canopy we set up for the missionaries in camp as there are no trees anywhere.  As soon as it goes up it is super crowded with everyone who can fit under it!

Elder and Sister Barton sharing their shade with our feet in the air..

 This group used music everyday and it was great music!  They had guitars, ukulele, and violins and beautiful voices.  They were singing on the trail and dancing and playing games in camp.  This week we had no cows in our camps but did have the "remains" dotting the prairie.  We have a building on the ranch by the dairy bowl camp that is called "The Dance Hall of the Dead"  It is an old granary that is all boarded up.  It was quite the attraction for this group, young and old alike, and many were up climbing around it.  There is just a bunch of old sheep bones and wool in there that have been there for years.  Story goes that in a bad snowstorm they went in to get out of the weather and the door blew shut trapping them inside.  We try to keep the trekkers away, but it is just too much for their imaginations.

This little guy was running to catch up to his Mom after he came back to the 4x4 that I was driving and pointed at me and said, "I want to ride in that"  I sent him back to his Mom.  He was so cute.  He also liked checking out the port a jons.

The best man from our wedding, Bruce Haws, had his grand daughter, Kodi Bankhead, here at Deseret Land and Live Stock on a trek with their stake.  Unfortunately she was on the other trek this week on the other side of the ranch.  We tried to see her a couple of times but was not able to meet up with her till Saturday as they were coming in to leave.  Our report from the missionaries with her, Elders and Sisters Peart and Howard, was that she was a real joy to have on their trek.  She is a darling girl.

Elder and Sister Barton with Kodi Bankhead

 We attended 2 sacrament meetings today as my brother Elder Steven and Sister Doloras Higginson were speaking in their meetings.  They gave great talks.  Our pot luck dinner today consisted of 3 missionary couples and 2 guests.  It seemed very lonely as many are away for the weekend..  You can defiantly tell treks are winding down and we are all getting tired, but the Lord continues to renew our weary bones to go another week.

Fun With Family and Hot, Dusty, and Dry

We started this week with a fun visit from Bob's Mom, Evelyn, and his sister and brother-in-law Kaye and Sam Clemmons.  They came on Monday, our preparation day, and we had lunch on Mom at one of our favorite dives in Evanston, Rail Road Crossing.  We then took them on a wild ride in the 4x4 on some of the trails and by the ponds.  It was a bit much for Mom and after the ride she was ready to go back to Layton and rest.

Kaye, Debra, Bob, Evelyn

We had a great fireside that night about the second and third rescues.  It was about doing the temple work for those who died in the Willie and Martin Handcart companies. and then how the Saviors atonement saves us.
Our trek this week was with the Roy North Stake on trail 7 with Elder and Sister Ekins from Hinckley, Utah.  We had 140 trekkers and 12 handcarts to keep track of.  They were a great group.  They were so organized and kind.  It is so hot and dry and dusty, that it was a difficult week for most of the missionaries let alone the trekkers.  There was one trek with 625 trekkers and moving that many along in the heat is quite difficult.  It made me all the more grateful to have our "little" trek!  We had a couple of firsts as Bob did the Pony Express for his first time and I called my first Hoe Down.  Bob did a great job and I had a ball with the dancing!  The kids even had a great time and wanted to keep dancing till after dark.  We had the most beautiful sunset I have seen here but was not able to get a picture as I was standing in the back of the flat bed truck.

Bob with his horse "Sliver" for the Pony Express

We have had quite the time with the cows being in our camps and having to move camp.  It has become kind of a running joke with the missionaries, but this time we had no problem with the camps but we did get to watch as the cowboys and their 6 dogs moving the cows from one land to another.

cows are funny and move in single file

cowboys, dust, and dogs

On Saturday Heidi and their two kids Alea and Weston came to visit us for the weekend.  They flew in from Mesa early that morning and then drove from Highland where Grandma and Grandpa Christensen live.  We had fun taking them in the 4x4 through the dusty trails, playing Pickle Ball, pulling handcarts, walking the Bear River, playing games, and just being together.  Weston had just had his tonsils removed 11 days before and was still hurting, but we could see day to day progress.  They just left this morning, and we are already missing them.  There is nothing like the love of family and we certainly love ours!

Bob, Debra, Heidi, Weston, and Alea in the Trek Center

Alea, Weston, and Grandma in our "dust masks" in the 4x4

Weston and Alea Pickleball pros

Who says Grandmas can't jump?

After Family Home Evening Monday night with the missionaries, it began to rain!  It had not rained for over 6 weeks and it is so dry.  I am always especially grateful for it as we have charge of the lawn and trees.  I could not refrain from "dancing in the rain".  Sadly, I think we got about 100 big drops and then it quit!

100 drops of rain

Beautiful Wyoming skies

Parade, Shed, Wheels and Trek

The fourth of July in Wyoming is a blast, literally!  Fireworks here are legal, but first let me tell you about the parade.  Deseret Land and Livestock had a float in the Woodruff parade, and we missionaries pulled a handcart behind them with a few kids in it who threw candy.  Bob, Debra, and Debra's brother Steven Higginson (also a missionary here) played Come Come Ye Saints on our harmonicas as we marched along.  It was your typical small town parade with lots of horses, Rodeo Queens, a few floats, some old cars, fire engines, and old tractors.  After we ate in the park we listened to some really good cowboy music and cowboy poetry.  That night we went into Evanston to watch the fireworks that were exploding all around us and all over town.  They started before it was dark and continued long after we were back at the Ranch and in bed.

Bob and Debra before the fourth of July parade started

Steven and Bob ready to play their harmonicas.  Debra played but was taking the picture.  Woodruff Utah

two of the numerous rodeo queens

float with 3 calves, two dogs, and lots of sagebrush.

Our trek this week was with the Sandy Cottonwood Creek Stake with 200 youth and adults on trail 23.  We were with Debra's brother and sister-in-law Elder and Sister Higginson.  It was great to work with them and with this stake.  It was a 3 day trek instead of the usual 4 day trek, so on Wednesday when the rest of the treks began, we work around the Trek Trailer "Village".  Bob put up 15 sheets of 4x8 pieces of plywood, alone in the wind, to protect the new storage shed that was built last year.  Debra oiled and sealed 22 wheels with the help of another Sister missionary.  It took us most of the day and was hard labor.  We were ready to get back to trekking!

just a portion of Bob's "decorative" work

The wheels that Debra helped to paint

The shed, about 100 feet long and 25 feet deep

Thursday about 10 AM our trekkers arrived in cars.  This was our first trek we have had with them coming in cars instead of buses, so we got educated in parking vehicles on bumpy pastureland.  This was the first time this stake had come to DL&L and they were very impressed and will definitely be back in 4 years.  They were an amazing group with no complaints, no major health issues (which we are always grateful for), and really good food.  The people were the best and it seems that each trek just gets better and better!  The thought hit me hard with this group that trekking really is a leveling ground where we all look the same in our dirty pioneer clothing.  It  doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, a genius or not, a Doctor, Lawyer, Homemaker, Custodian,.............we are all just pulling and pushing to get up or down the next hill, and all working together and with the Lord's help, we can achieve anything. This women's pull was a bit easier, but they had only 3-4 girls on the carts, so it was good for them.

Carts lined up before the women's pull

Women's pull meeting before they began the pull

Sandy Cottonwood Creek Stake heading up one of the many hills on trail 23

We sang our "missionary anthem", as the missionaries have come to call it, in two different wards today. It is Sally Deford's  "To Those Who Came Before Me".  We sang at 9:00 and again at 1:00.  We are always so tired on Sunday, but attending church gives us a boost and gets us through the next week.  Debra directs the choir and it is amazing to see these Elders and Sisters, some who swore they could not sing, actually enjoying singing.  She saw this over and over again in Nauvoo so she was not surprised, but many of the missionaries are.  It has been a great week!

Tulips or Two Lips on the Prarie

Monday started with mowing lawns and sprucing up the area as Elder Durham, our area authority 70, was coming with his wife for two days.  Sister Durham was just released as a councilor in the General Primary Presidency and spoke in last General Conference.  They were very fun to have around.  Each missionary couple had an interview with them to see how we were doing and to learn more about us.  We had a big turkey dinner (like Thanksgiving) Monday night and then they did a fireside.  It was so good,.  He talked about charity and how we need it for ourselves and each other and everyone we serve and gave us a blessing that as we served we would receive the gift of charity in our lives.  He also talked about doubt not fear not for the Lord is in charge.  That proved so true for me this week as we trekked with the Fruits Heights Stake (350 people and 31 handcarts).  They loaded everything in their carts, tarps, buckets, table, poles and 4x4 for building their shelters, dutch ovens, sleeping bags and everything they had.  There had to be at least 400 to 500 lbs of gear in each handcart.  Some were piled 7 feet high.  The first day of trekking was trying to retie and hold all that stuff together over bumpy trails and badger holes.   The lead cart carried the American flag.

Piled high handcarts

They decided to have the girls pull all the carts and gear up the women's pull.  They had 5 girls on each cart and trail 14 has one of the hardest pulls.  It is 1.8 miles long and I confess I doubted they could do it, but do it they did! Another testimony as to how strong and determined these young women are and how I need to rely on the Lord more and doubts my own fears and trust in the Lord.
Their theme was Ohana (Family in Hawaiian) "No One Left Behind".

you will have to look at this sideways.  Their neckerchiefs

 This was our (Bob and me) largest trek yet and their 31 carts stretched for about 1 mile at times.  We had three missionary couples assigned to this trek, the Higginson's (Debra's brother) and the Calls (also Debra's relatives from our pioneer heritage).  Their food and games were centered on the Hawaiian theme.

You have to look hard to see the front of the group in mid to upper left

 There was one game they called tulips on the prarie that was quite a sight to behold.  The medical staff referred to it as face tag, Bob called it a combination of Wrestling and the Dating Game.  They all gathered in a circle and each boy and girl were assigned a letter or number.  One would sit in the middle and they would call out a letter for a boy and one for a girl and then they would try to kiss the one on the cheek that was running before they could get to the one in the middle and kiss them on the cheek.  It was crazy watching some of the tackles that took place all to try to stay out of the middle.  This has been a tradition for their stake at each of their last 4 treks.  No one had ever gotten hurt before but this one resulted in one broken collarbone, one concussion and one black eye (the collarbone and concussion were boys).  The young women that gave the young man the concussion was given the number 54 on the back of her shirt, a football line backer number, and she wore it proudly.  These kids were intense! We also had ?batman? on the trek.

Sister Barton with ?Batman?  You should have seen his sunburn whenever he removed the mask!

They had a great fireside on Friday night with Elder Gary Coleman an emeritus 70.  He spoke about our pre-existence with our Heavenly Father and how we are all fore ordained to be here at this time.  It was good to hear, and believe me we have strong youth both physically and spiritually
.

Elder and Sister Barton with Elder Gary Coleman

The wild flowers are beautiful right now, so much so that Ashlyn Wade (the 10 year old that was helping her Father with the port a jons) would pick flowers and put them in the urinals of the women's port a jons.

Wildflower bouquet in the urinal

She was a spit fire and an in-charge young lady. They named her as an honorary trail boss and believe me she could have run the whole trek.

Ashlyn Wade, 10 year old honorary trailboss.  The window says "pooped out", it was pulling port a jons.

These kids had no more than got on their 7 buses and headed out than the skies opened up and we had a MUCH needed rainstorm.  We are told there will be no more open fires until we get more rain.  So pray for us to get rain!

Cowboys and our best trek yet!

Monday for Family Home Evening we invited the ranch cowboys and their families for a BBQ and fun and games.  It was so fun to see lots of little and not so little ones playing and having a good time.  It was a bit windy (as it always is in Wyoming) so they had kites in the air, bubbles flying, and other fun activities.  One of our treks left these cute buffalo targets and bows made out of PVC and arrows out of dowels, pencil erasers, and duct tape.  They threw axes at a wooden stump and everyone seemed to enjoy the evening.  It was fun to watch the cowboys rope the little kids as they ran away squealing only to be caught by the foot and brought to the ground.  It brought back memories of doing the same thing with my Dad when I was young.

A 3 year old cowboy lassoing bubbles

Cowboy dinner

Tuesday found us getting ready for our trekkers.  One of the not so fun parts of this mission is cleaning the port a potties.  They are pumped on Monday and then we go in and spray down the walls and wipe them down..  Even though there is not stuff in them they still are in need of cleaning.  That seems to be the sisters job as the elders get the water buffalos ready to go.  I think I would rather do the buffalos!
Wednesday we were ready for our group to arrive at 10:30 but alas nothing.  We got a call that the "old" school buses they were coming on were having a hard time getting here.  They were overheating and would have to stop often.  While we waited Bob saw this little moose right in the area where the trek was about to begin.

Bob's moose at staging on trail 23

 This was also on the hottest day of the year so far and right after the death of a "Ma" on a trek in Oklahoma.  We did hear from many about that, and it was a very sad thing for them, but gratefully we had no major problems here.  It was very warm but they also had humidity to deal with and we do not.  The kids finally got here at 1:30 and it was worth the wait.  We trekked trail 23, which is one we have 4 times this summer.  They came from the Murray South Stake, and were very organized and prepared.  We had 9 handcarts with a Ma and Pa for each family with a handcart. They loaded everything onto their handcarts that were piled 2 stories high and headed out.  We made sure they stopped and drank and rested a bit about every 30 minutes.  It worked out well that cows were in their first day camp, Crane Hallow, so we stopped 2 miles short on day one but had to make it up on day 2.  These kids used big blue tarps instead of tents and it was very fun to see how creative they were in building shelters to sleep in.

Blue tarp city camp

The next morning we started out after each family did their cheer.  This was something they did at the beginning and end of each day.  They would make up a cute chant or song and do it for all the "families".  There is an area called "the Nordic drop" that drops about 250 feet in a short time and is a real challenge for the kids and the handcarts.  When I first saw it I said I would never take kids down that, but this is the second time we have done it and it was great.  The kids really learn how to work together.  We tie a large rope to the back of the handcarts and the kids pull back on both sides. There are only 2 up front to guide them down the drop.  To listen to the kids later it was one of the highlights of their trek.

The first part of the Nordic drop

We got into camp about 3 PM and then they did pioneer games.  It was so fun to watch and even participate in some of them.  They did stick pulls, leg wrestling, hoop game, three legged races, knife throw, bow and arrows, log cutting, a circle game on buckets, kind of like musical chairs.  All the trekkers bring 5 gallon buckets with their personal gear and then they sit on them at camp and for eating.  That night we had a hoe down and this was by far one of my favorite things to do.

Elder Call (L) Elder Barton (R) "sawing logs"

Bob even got up and danced.  These kids loved it and it was easy to see why the pioneers would sing and dance at the end of a long day of trekking, it truly lifts your spirit and energizes even old missionaries like us.  We stayed the last night at the Dairy Bowl, one of my favorite camps.  It is a big open area.  We had a great talk by the Stake President, President Childs, and then the kids were given an hour of solo time where they read their scriptures, wrote in their journals, prayed, and wrote on a Popsicle stick the sin or weakness they wanted to give up and remove from their lives.  They went off by themselves and there was absolute silence for one hour.  There was plenty of room in this large meadow and we even participated in the quiet time.  I think Bob mostly slept, but I filled my stick with things to change in my life.  That night they all threw their stick in the fire symbolizing how we can repent and give it to the Savior who has already paid the price for our sins and weaknesses.  Our last day out on this trail is one of the shortest.  We always love the kids and treks but we also like to get home a bit earlier than usual and this trail is one where that can happen, but they got notified that their "old" school buses would not get there until 1 or 1:30.  So much for an early out.  What they did, however was, they wanted to do a service project for the ranch.  Yeah!  we got shovels for them and they filled lots of badger holes with rocks and dirt.  It was fun to see the young ladies fill their aprons with rocks to throw down the badger holes.  It was great fun for them and great service for us.  One thing that made this trek so special, I believe, was all the music they used every day.  Music always brings the spirit to me and this was definitely a spirit filled Trek!

one of the many Sego Lilies in bloom right now

Today was Stake conference and it was a great meeting.  Much about missionary work, temples, and service, all things that mean a lot to both of us.  We had a great week and hope all of you did too.

Unforseen challenges and benefits.

Tuesday, we spent getting ready for our new arrivals and mowing the lawn around the depot.

Debra and her new toy

 Debra and I were the lead couple with Elder and Sister Howard from Emmet, ID, as our second couple.  We were on trail #6, which many of us including myself thinks is the best one.  We had 305 total participants from the Orem Heather Ridge Stake.  What a production, I will explain.  They came in 5 large buses and 14 support vehicles (they were only suppose to have 10).  The stake couple that was in charge of the trek activities and spiritual vignettes in camp and along the trail were really fun and good people, however, she had been the assistant director of the Hill Cumorah  pageant for 7 years, and the activities really should have been on a stage rather than on a trail.  We had delicious food contracted and catered by BYU food services, (Debra wants all of you to know that we had lots of BYU brownies and chocolate chip cookies), now I know you are all jealous. They even brought dish washing facilities built into a horse trailer.

Alright, now on to the trek.  Before proceeding I need to mention 3 young men.  Ky is a down syndrome teen, his father was with him and they were determined to walk all 25.8 miles of this trek.  He was slow and easily distracted and would just sit down in the trail.  He had a fascination with the 4 wheeler that we follow each trek with for emergencies.  With permission of his father and Stake President we drove the 4 wheeler past him and just a little ways in front of him.  He jumped up off the ground and continued on as needed.  He finished the entire trek!!

Gabe

 Gabe was abused as a small child and has cerebral palsy and a huge spirit.  He was also determined to make the entire trek.  At mile 14 he checked in with the trek doctor and had 3 toe nails removed and was told that he would have to ride the remainder.  His trek family asked me if they could load him on there hand cart and pull him, I approved it for medical reasons, and they loaded him on the cart and pulled him up the women's pull to camp.  He then rode in a vehicle after that.  He did not stop walking and doing all that the others did while in camp never complaining once!!

Michael Roberts being pulled

We knew before the group arrived that Michael a non verbal, down syndrome with celiac disease and a number of other infirmities would be coming on the morning of day 2. He was to be pushed by all youth that wanted to in his 3 wheeler and was then to leave that night.  However, he was enjoying himself so well that he and his parents got to stay for day 3 also.  These 3 young men and how they were treated and included made quite an impression on us.

Wednesday, we got started on our 10 mile first day.  The sun was shinning and the temperature was nice, but the wind was blowing hard.  35 and 40 mile per hour wind gusts was a challenge, especially the last 4 miles where 3 of those miles was on a high ridge and uphill into the wind.  Camp was in a valley that offered some protection over night.

Thursday, was to be a fairly easy 4 mile day, however this is a working cattle ranch and there were several hundred cows in our second night camp.  The real pioneers would have put up with it but we can't.

The cows were not happy when we showed up

We had to move our camp 2 additional miles, giving us 6 miles and an afternoon "women's pull".  "Women's pulls are designed to be a difficult challenge for women and are almost always held in the morning when the women are not already tired. This particular trail has the most difficult women's pull on the ranch.  The total number of women are divided into 6 or 7 per hand cart and the remaining hand carts are taken up the pull by the men giving the men a sense of the difficulty the women will be facing.  This trek group had the men silently lining the last 100 yards of the pull with there hats over there hearts in respect to the women. It is an awesome sight watching these valiant women pushing and pulling their cart up big inclines with grit and determination on their faces, gasping for air and coaxing each other to make the top.

Part of the Women's Pull

Looking up the Women's Pull

Our new campsite worked very well giving each a fantastic view of the Uintah Mountains and a good portion of the ranch.  That evening on our way back to our trailer we seen a huge cow moose just off the side of the road.  This ranch has about 200 moose, trophy elk, deer and fish. Outfitters will charge you a bundle to hunt here and those revenues also support the ranch.

Friday turned into a manageable 8 miles.  About 4 of those are downhill, those of you who have trekked know that downhill does not always mean easier.  Our 3rd camp is a big meadow with nice grass.  We had a mountain man on the trek that put up a 30 foot tall teepee and did hatchet throwing and leather working.  We had spare ribs and bbq chicken this night. I guess there is no way that I will loose weight, even hiking 25 trail miles per week.

Dave the Mtn Man and water buffalo driver and liked strange headwear

Bob cat head dress

Saturday was a 4 mile hike out to the buses.  Each of the 305 trekkers was given a rock to carry as a burden.  They were as big as baking potatoes.  Just in sight of the buses and a pulled chicken Cafe Rio style lunch.  They stopped the trekkers and had a review of the trek and they built a rock monument with there rocks.  This is a big no, no.  We decided to let the youth go to lunch and there leaders were to take down the monument out of sight of the youth.  We then proceeded to fill badger holes with these rocks.  I only got in a little trouble for that.

The burden monument

 We then took a quick shower and drove to the Ogden Temple. Nice way to end the day.
Sunday our missionary choir made the trip to Woodruff, UT to sing in their Sacrament Meeting.  Nice ward but unless you have a reason to go there it will never happen, it is out in the boonies and not very accessible. All of them went by was of Evanston except us, because we were in Ogden.  Driving from Ogden is a very scenic long hour and 3/4 drive. This road is only open in the summer and tops out at 20' shy of 9000'.  Like I said there are not to many ways to get to Woodruff.