Mormon youths take summer trek

When I found out that our youth group was doing Pioneer Trek this summer, I wanted to be a part of it.

Every four years, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Spokane Valley organizes this activity for youth ages 14-18. We dress up in pioneer-style clothing and hike more than 18 miles pulling wooden handcarts like the early Mormon pioneers when they traveled west to Utah. Our group did this for four days and three nights.

I was a little scared that I wouldn’t be able to go. I have cerebral palsy and use an electric wheelchair, so there were lots of things to consider. Everything came together, including plans to build a covered rickshaw that I could ride in.

Early in the morning on June 24, participants met at the church and were sorted into families. This consisted of a ma, a pa, and seven or eight teens. I didn’t know everyone in my group, but it didn’t take long before we started to feel like a real family.

Leaving my electric wheelchair behind, I boarded one of the many buses transporting more than 300 kids and adults on our way to Badger Mountain, near Wenatchee. After arriving, we assembled into our families, found our handcarts and started walking.

I know it was hard for everyone who was walking and pulling the carts, including my rickshaw, but it was also hard on my body. I had a seatbelt but found myself holding on for dear life.

It was difficult to watch everyone work so hard. At one point, I watched one of my “sisters” fall while pulling me up an especially rugged hill. I understood how some of the other pioneers might have felt who were sick or disabled.

Like the real pioneers, we trekked rough trails in glaring heat while watching for snakes and ticks. Unlike the real pioneers, we had plenty to eat and drink.

We learned that we could do really hard things. It taught us to respect what the Mormon pioneers went through to find a place to live without persecution and worship according to their faith, which is now my faith as well.