Martin's Cove Handcart Trek

This post is about our handcart trek. I've written a fairly detailed account of what we did, which you can skip and just get the picture account. =)

June 16 Phil and I headed out with our ward to Martin's Cove in Wyoming. We had been assigned to a youth family consisting of 7 youth, three young men and 4 young women. Phil and I had been there once before with Phil's family, but only spent a few hours walking around and listening to his Grandpa Moulton tell us his history. It was neat, but there was something about camping there, trekking 14 miles, and wearing pioneer clothes that made the experience more meaningful. It also helped that we both were part of the planning for this activity and worked on the preparations for several months. During that time I was able to study the stories of various saints, including the Moulton family that crossed with the Willie Handcart Company. 

Phil's family thankfully watched Boyd so that we would could focus on the youth that were in our family. I think Boyd would have had a great time, but he's such a busy guy that we would have been constantly chasing him around and taking our focus away. He had a great time with his Grandma and Grandpa and aunts and uncles. He's lucky to have so many people who love him so much!

Thursday morning we made the 5 hour drive to Martin's Cove. Once everyone arrived we went through orientation, checked out our handcarts and loaded up our gear. It was very exciting and we were blessed to miss the huge thunderstorm during our orientation. Finally it was time to start trekking. The youth, who were pushing most of the handcarts, were so excited to go that they kept so close in line to each other that they kept running into each other. Phil and I decided that we needed to be the buffer and set the spacing for our cart. Phil joked with our youth family with threats if they ran into us, which they nearly did multiple times. We pulled our handcarts 3 miles to our campsite. We then set up our tents, which was hard in the Wyoming wind and had dinner. After dinner was square dancing. That was a lot of fun and Phil was a great sport to be a partner to a young woman. Before bed we had a small fireside. A few people spoke and Phil played his guitar and sang "Come, Come Ye Saint." It sounded great!!

That night the wind blew so hard. Phil guessed it was blowing 100 mile per hour. Many of our tents fell apart or folded in half as a result. We had a hard time sleeping at first because the wind was so loud and so many people we awake trying to fix their tents or just talking about the wind. However, after we started listening to everyone it became very humorous and we couldn't help but laughing. Thankfully we had a good tent and Phil had staked it in well that we didn't have any problems with our tent.

The next morning we had breakfast and headed over to the Cove. On our way we stopped at some statues depicting that men that helped the Saints cross the Sweet Water River. It was very moving and emotional for me. It was strange to see those poor Saints depicted in their starved and freezing conditions. We then went a bit further and parked our handcarts and headed up into Dan Jone's Cove. There a missionary spoke to us and we had a little musical number. We also learned that Martin's Cove had been dedicated as Wyoming's outdoor temple. Then we quietly walked up the path into Martin's Cove. Going up there for the second time was just as good as the first. There's something special to know that you're walking on the same ground those pioneers did. Again we listened to missionaries and spent some quiet time sitting in the cove. 

After lunch we headed back to our campsite. There we stopped at the Sweet Water River and shared some stories. Phil and Selena Miskin sang "Abide With Me, Tis Even Tide" and it was beautiful! We couldn't cross through the river liked we planned because the water was too high, so we just went across the bridge. The next stop was the women's pull. This is actually hard for me to write about and express my feelings about because it was so emotional. All the men left the women and children with the handcarts and walked up to the top of a hill. There they just waited for us. We all started off and soon we came to the hill. It wasn't long, but it was steep and sandy. I was lucky enough to have 4 young women in my group and I knew we wouldn't have too much trouble getting to the top of the hill. But as we had just started, a young woman in our family said, "Sister Moulton, I think you should go help the Gibson's." As I looked up to where their handcart was, it was easy to tell that they were struggling. So I ran up there and helped them up the rest of the way. They would not have made it without help and I was so thankful that I was able to help them. By the time I got back to help my own youth family, they were already up the hill! They had done it all by themselves and I was so proud! So I kept going on back down the hill to see if anyone else needed up. There was another handcart that needed a bit of help and happened to be my good friend. They were moving very slow up the hill and had five of their owns kids that they haul up as well. I grabbed onto a side and started pulling. It moved a bit faster, then someone else started pushing from the back and it moved faster. Next one of the girls from my handcart came back down and grabbed onto the other side and the handcart became so light and easy to pull. It was neat to see everyone help each other and come together for the good of the whole. 

After we got back to camp we had another amazing meal and then headed off to a fireside. It was an incredible backdrop. It was in a meadow, at sunset, with the Sweet Water River meandering through, antelope grazing, and a view of the Cove across the way. The Bishop made some remarks as well as Monte Woolstenhulme. Then Tiffany Wilson sang very sweet and tender song. It all helped to invite the Spirit. Many of the youth shared their testimonies as well as some of the leaders. It was amazing and a great way to spend the last night. I was overwhelmed with how my own testimony had been strengthened and the knoweldge that I had gained through the whole experience. Those pioneers  were amazing and had unwavering faith. I actually don't think that there is a word to describe their faith, but I felt like I was beginning to understand it. It was a great experience. One that I hope to be able to do again!

All loaded up and ready to go on Day 1. 

Hannah Hartshorn, Emily Hales, Justin Coburn, Freeman McCashland, Joe Bench, Me, Phil, Megan Woolstenhulme, and Mindy Kaufman

  

Leaving the staging area and heading out to our campsite, a 3 mile trek.

I'm glad I remembered to get a picture before we started. We did not look anything like this by day 3. =) My Mom made my bonnet, skirt and apron. Although I lent out my apron to someone who forgot a skirt.

Our beautiful scenery on the way to our campsite.

This was our flag that we made. It's a blue flame and it says "Let It Burn." The theme for the trek was Fire of the Covenant. So we figured that a blue flame is the hottest and the kind of flame or faith that we want to have.

Square Dancing to "Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!"

Phil being a great sport!

Fireside the first night.

Playing and singing "Come, Come Ye Saints"

View of the Sweet Water River looking toward Martin's Cove.

Crossing the river. Thank goodness there was a bridge. The water was SO high.

View into Dan Jone's Cove.

Dan Jone's Cove

Walking through the Cove. A few minutes later we learned that this is where the Saints camped in the cove.

A view looking out of the cove.

Here we are heading out of the cove and you can barely see our campsite in the background.

Selena and Phil singing "Abide with Me, Tis Even Tide" at the Sweet Water River.

Friday night fireside. The most beautiful setting for a fireside and for bearing testimonies I've ever experienced. Martin's Cove is on the right of the picture.

Saturday morning. By then I had to resort to braids. It was so windy and dusty! Martin's Cove is just over my left shoulder.

 Hiking out on the last day. Thankfully our youth were still in great spirits!

Hannah, Justin, Joe, Mindy, Freeman, Megan, & Emily standing in front of the cove.

Dan Jone's Cove is right above Emily and Martin's Cove is right above Mindy.

One last shot on the way out with Martin's Cove in the background!

On the trek all the youth had been given a real pioneer, either in the Willie Company or in the Martin Company. They were able to read their story and then we made these bracelets that had the name of their pioneer on them. Phil and I were Thomas and Sarah Moulton. They came from Europe and traveled with the Willie company with their children. Their story is remarkable and I was so proud to wear Sarah Denton Moulton's name on my wrist. 

We also gave the youth pouches to put keepsakes we gave them all along the way. Each keepsakes had a story that was meant to help with realize the strong faith those Saints had.