The Jacobsen Family: An experience to remember

Dan and I had the privilege of being a Ma and Pa on our stake's youth Pioneer Trek, which was this past weekend (June 10-14. We were asked a few months ago, but were asked to keep it hush-hush so it would be a surprise for the youth. It's been hard to do that because of all the fun preparation it has entailed. Babysitting was all lined up for Soren to spend the time with the Johnson's in Fort Collins. I found great patterns to sew pioneer get-ups for both myself and Dan. Dan and I were sure to get out and go hiking to be physically prepared too. We had a few meetings in the past few months and a practice camp-out with the leaders last month. We felt really blessed to be a part of this! I want to share just a handful of experiences we had this past weekend.

We met our family when we all gathered at the church early Thursday morning. We had 4 girls and 3 boys. There was supposed to be one more boy, but he broke his ankle on Monday of that week, so obviously he couldn't make the trek. We rode the bus for three hours almost to the Wyoming border near Walden, CO. We loaded up our handcarts and set off. Thursday was the biggest day of treking with 12+ miles and 3,000 feet elevation gain.

Our children pulled from the Yoke in the front and pushed hardcart from behind. The Pa's and Ma's were instructed not to help push or pull the cart unless it was absolutely necessary. That was easier said than done.

When we started, our Trail Boss pointed to the mountain we were to hike up and camp at for the night. That was met by a large amount of groaning. It seemed very far, and very high. (It was!)

This is our Jacobsen Trek Family. Standing from left; Big Brother Cameron, Ben, Pa, and Nathan. Sitting from left; Sarah, Clarissa, Big Sister Edna, Ma, and Madi. Our family color was yellow.

The weather seemed to be nice when we started, but you can see in the picture below what quickly fell upon us. We had a sudden thunder, rain, hail, and very windy storm right on us that passed after about 15 minutes. It soaked us, but the high wind dried us out again.

Here our kids are ready to go down a hill - the rope and long pole (the 2nd Yoke) in back served as the breaks.

In this video, you can see our trail where we were stopped at the bottom, and then the long trail up that the women had to climb. At the left-hand side of the screen, you can see the trail leading up the hill, and on the horizon a big hill in the distance. That hill is what we would eventually climb and where we made camp the first night on its other side. You can also see how the 2nd Yoke was used for braking as we went down the hill.

We were stopped just before a long steady climb on the trail by a man with rifle in hand, asking for all the men to volunteer to enlist in the army to fight in the war as part of the Mormon Battallion. He took all of our men, gave them rifles (not really real ones) and left all the women to pull our carts alone.

The Ma's and their daughters made the long, steep climb. It was hard, but we didn't stop. After a long time of me pushing on the back of the cart, I began to hear in the distance men singing. As we got closer to the voices, I could see a column of men on both sides of the trail, and they were singing The Spirit of God.

That experience helped us understand better what the pioneer women had to sacrifice when their men went to serve in the Mormon Battallion. It was wonderful to be reunited with our whole family. From then on, our family was so much closer.

Here we are enjoying the breeze at the top. It seriously felt like we would fly away

After the Women's Pull, and a big long family hug, the men took over all the pulling duties for a time. We told our children we could tell how hard someone was working by the angle of their body pulling or pushing the cart. For the rest of this first day, this is what we looked like. It was a very long and steep climb from there on out.

By the end of the first day we had really grown to trust and depend on each other.

The second day we were stopped and informed about some other pioneer companies in another area that were in trouble and needing our help. A search party was formed and they brought back six people needing families. We got to adopt a new member to our family. Rodney was an older brother going to find his sister in Zion. While on the trail, he was robbed of all his earthly possessions and his sight. He was blind. He joined our family for the remainder of the Trek. Rod taught us about life as blind person, but much more about what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Rod is the tall man pushing on the back of our cart.

The 2nd night it started to rain. It created a wet, muddy trail the 3rd day. And everything was just more wet and messy from all of it.

The trail wasn't all in one piece, but it sure was beautiful!

Here, our cart was placed in the back of the company. After watching the other families walk through the water and mud, our family figured out ways to avoid getting wet. Thus, keeping us dry, warm, and heathy.

Our son, Ben, found this Jeep hub cap on the trail, and gave it to his brother, Cameron, for his birthday that was on day three. They fixed it on our cart, to show the off-road capabilities of our cart.

We would always put up our shelter was always our first priority upon arriving into camp. All the other families wished they had our cool tent, or at least coud help set them up...I wonder why.

This is our last tent we made. We liked 'em good and tall to be able to walk around in.

A little rain never stopped a few from doing square dancing! Too bad hot chocolate was a little too inviting for some. It was a blast while it lasted!

Sunday we had rain in the morning, but once church was going to start, this is what the sky looked like just over our head. It was grey all round our blue spot. We enjoyed those three hours of sun and warmth outside.

Once the closeing prayer was said you could hear the thunder coming and feel sprinkles. We then had a downpore of rain, then hail, that lasted through lunch. I figure God had to make up for all the time we had sun that the land wasn't getting moisture.

We sat around the fire to stay warm, and to dry out sopping wet clothes. It was fun to see all the steam evaperating off everyone standing nearby. Don't worry, no one started on fire. There were only a couple people I heard of whose clothes shrivled up in a spot because they got too close to the fire (polyester type jackets).

Overall, we both feel this Trek has strengthened our appreciation for the pioneers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and all they sacrificed to go to a place where they could worship freely.