July 23, 2016

What a fun group we had this week.  From Cedar City,

the Mountain View Ward came.  They brought their whole

families.  Anyone in the ward who wanted to come.

Because they had small children (2 Years old was the youngest)

they made coverings for the carts.  We had little wagons 

on trek this week.

They made a frame out of flexible water tubing.

It was really sturdy and the wind didn't harm them at all.

This little guy, we called him "Twig" became our

honorary trail boss and apprentice missionary.  Elder Cowan

gave him a tag and cord so he could wear his badge like Elder Cowan.

He kept us entertained the whole week.

This cute little red head is 7 years old.  Guess why I liked

her?  Yep, she reminded me our Ruby.  She walked

with me the first thing out of staging.  She kept me

informed about all kinds of things.

This little boy was busy from sun up to sun down.

We loved watching him play.

This would be Santa Claus or Grizzly Adams or maybe

a cousin to both.  They were fun to have on trek.

This would be our own US marshal.  He was walking

for his ancestor who was a US marshal.

He even had a replica of the badge he would have worn.

We felt safe.

Our little trekker pulling the cart.

What a cool sight this was all week.  Parents and their children

walking the trail.

Elder Cowan relaxing in a zero gravity chair.

It was really hot this week, the hottest this year.

Another photo of our favorite little trekker.  He loved

the porta Johns.  He would be found there playing

whenever you couldn't find him.

The wind got bad on Friday afternoon.  We had to drop

the canopy to a lower height.  Shade was still a 

necessity.

But, it was plenty crowded underneath it.

Remember, these other people haven't showered since

Wednesday, it was now Friday.

Stick pull with the cute little girls.  They loved to play

all the pioneer games.  They loved dancing.  Elder Barton

and Elder Cowan loved dancing with the little

girls.  They had to bend clear over to clap hands

with them and swing them.

Our favorite daughter Janalee sent her famous

"Satan" bread up to us with the Bairetts.  She works with

him.  We have been missing her and her bread.

Thanks Janalee for a great treat.  We are

still eating it.  We shared some of it but

NOT ALL OF IT.  And each day it

gets harder and cruncher, YUM.

So today we walked our 24th trek.  It is quickly coming

to an end.  We find ourselves crying when we

think we won't walk these trails again.

We will miss several things for sure.

Today was a record day.  The group left our staging area

at 11:10 am.  That is unheard of!  It is usually at least 2:00 pm, 

sometimes later.  We liked finishing up earlier.

July 17, 2016

Each week we enjoy watching the various groups

play games.

Stick pull and tug of wars are the best.

This week we learned lots of new games I

will probably forget.  Some I want to remember to

play with the grandkids.

Friday night we had one of those spectacular sunsets.

Several youth ran up a hill so they could get closer to it.

Their silhouette looked as cool as the sunset itself.

I know you shouldn't post pictures of people unless you have

permission to do so.  But, really, only a handful of

people even look at our blog and so I think I am safe.

This is the West Jordan Prairie Stake President and his

wonderful wife.  She was a delight.

On Friday morning she woke up to a BIG

FAT LOWER LIP.  Really big!  A common problem

we see each week.  It is from the sun exposure.

She was glad when I told her that she was 

afraid it would be like that forever.

This young woman is a niece and cousin to our friends

in Evanston.  We trekked with them last year and when

they learned she was going on trek they said, "Find the

Cowan's you will love them."  How great we were

on the same trek with them.  We had five groups out

and we were with them, What are the chances of that?

100% is our answer always.

I could have taken this same picture everyday this week.

I kept seeing this same couple asleep at the PJ stops.

Being on the support crew is hard work and lots

of down time waiting on the trekkers.

I loved it when I saw them napping each time.

Check out the hammock.  He slept in this each night and 

loved it.  We loved him.  He had tons of cool backpacking gear 

with him.

This is his lightweight chair.

This is Elder Cowan trying out the cool chair.  The

best part is he was able to get back out of it.

This is President Norton.  Ray we gave him a coin.

Sometime we will have to tell you his story!

He is a miracle.

Another sleeping picture.  Life on the prairie.

Elder Cowan getting ready to ride his wild pony

into the camp and deliver the mail for the pony express.

He tells them his name is BOB, easy cause you can spell

it either way.  His horse is Splinter, Stickateriat is his

father, Whispering Pine his mother.

The Stake President receives the bag for the whole camp.

Elder Cowan hates doing this but really he does a great job.

For your information, if you get a bloody nose just have

on hand some tampons and they make great plugs up the 

nose to stop the flow of blood.  The slimmer the better.

A seagull waiting for the group to move on so they can 

clean up the camp area.

This is Elder Cowan and a Young Man that needed a job to

perform.  He had taken a dare and spit watermelon seeds all

over the doors of the porta john, NOT COOL.  Elder Cowan

went over the the johns because he could see they were

locking some boys in the stalls.  When he got there he

discovered the mess on the door.  He sent the four boys

responsible for locking the doors over to get towels to clean

the doors.  They told him they didn't do it.  He told them, 

"Your guilty anyway so just do it."  In about 15 minutes

a young man walked up to us and told us he was the one

who was responsible for the mess on the doors.  So Elder

Cowan said "Come with me"  He took him to STIR the

holes with a long stick.  A job that really has to be done to

keep STUFF in the blue chemical.  After the first one he

said, "Man that smells bad"  He did all six and we told

him how good it was he came and confessed.  We encouraged him

to have integrity the rest of his life.

A bad situation turned good.  

This YW kept the whole Stake, 300 people waiting the 

first morning of trek.  She didn't show at the church.

Her ward went to her house, found her asleep.  Then

discovered she had not packed ANYTHING.  So they

waited for her to do that.  So, we all waited at staging

to begin the trek until they arrived with her.

What more can I say?

This young man brought this PVC pipe back rest and

used it every day.  It comes completely apart.

Another interesting way to get a back rest.

Real men wear bonnets.  This is a Ma and Pa.

This young man said he would build a fort with the wood

from his handcart if he could keep his cart.  Interesting thought.

Great week.  We have hot weather ahead.  Pray for rain.

July 10, 2016

We trekked with the Brigham Stake this week.  A great group

of people.  They knew Jeff's uncle and aunt Lowell and Colleen

Sherratt.  They each one walked with a name of an ancestor.

Each ward had a different token with the name on it.  I 

really liked this one.  It was made of wood. 

They had a group token also.  It was for them to pass

on when they saw someone doing one of the four

things listed on it.  

T= Thankful

R= Respectful

E= Enjoyable

K= Kind

What a great idea and a fun way to serve and treat 

others with respect and kindness.

Our trek boss this week was great.  When he got into camp

each night he would put on his "Camp Shoes"

They were a soft material.  But, as he would walk thru

the grass it would catch the grass and sometimes

flowers in between his toes.  They looked funny.

This trekker loved watermelon.  We were teasing him

about getting enough.

Then his dad came along, we then understood where

he got his addiction to watermelon.

They ate a whole watermelon themselves.

We love music on the trail.  This young man is

leaving to serve a mission in Russia in about 3 weeks.

He was a great trekker and leader in his Stake.

We tell you the wind blows hard here.  This is how

this group kept their canopy from blowing away,

it worked great.

This is a Ma from the trek.  She was taking home a 

handful of the prairie grass to make bracelets for the 

youth in her trek family.  Notice the one on her wrist.

It was a beautiful weave.

This is where they took a big group picture at the end of

the trek.  Quite a cleaver idea and a way to get 

everyone in the photo.

I don't know if you can tell but this is a group of about

9 antelope.  They came down close by the trekkers

and stayed there just watching us.  We weren't moving

very fast because they were going into a deep ravine and

it was slow moving.  The others were just parked waiting

and drinking water.  The antelope stayed there for a long

time.  Usually they run off and away.  I enjoyed watching

them watch us.

A different way to pull a handcart.  They have ropes

on the two boys out front, they are like the oxen

on the trail.  We don't see this often but I have seen it before.

So last week was our 5th week of trek.  We have

4 more weeks to go.  This next week is our biggest

week so far, we will have about 1300 people here

on the trek.  Last week we had about 1100 here.

We are super dry and are all praying for rain.

The dust is about 3 to 6 inches deep in some areas.

In May we couldn't get a dry day, we were growing

mushrooms now we can't buy a tablespoon of water.

Rolling Rolling Rolling keep those trekkers going.