So, I just got back from a pioneer reenactment, called trek.
For three days, we pushed a handcart (example) through Wyoming, in the wind and the sun. We set up our own camps, had no electronics, and cooked some of our meals on our own in dutch ovens, etc. I had gone on one of these when I was a teen, and was able to go again, but this time as a Pa. This meant that my wife and I were also in charge of seven random children from church.
I think that everyone should have experiences like this. Was it fun? no, it really wasn't. Was it good for me? very much so. From this experience, I learned a lot about myself, and a little about what it meant to be a pioneer. I very much appreciate my bed, shower, air conditioned home, car and many other modern conveniences.
As hard as things were for me, things were much harder for the pioneers. We had as much food as we could eat. They (in some cases) lived off of just one cup of flour a day. I had no idea how this equated to real food, but apparently it makes about five small biscuits. I don't know how a person can push a handcart ten to fifteen miles on that. I was walking this trail in late June and the temperature was in the 70's and 80's. For them, it was either hotter or much much colder. In fact, some of them froze to death. I had a nice tent, sleeping bag, and even a blow up mattress. Pioneers? not so much. I didn't have to carry several months of food with me, and I walked for three days, not three months (or more). The 'children' that we had with us were all over the age of fourteen. Pioneers in many cases had very young or infant children with them.
I know in my life, when I go for a long time without something like this trek (or at least camping), I start to take how easy life really is for granted, and I start to complain about things that really aren't that big of a deal. Experiences like this remind me that I can take a lot more than I think I can, that I can do things that seem impossible beforehand.
On top of all this, it was a very personal and religious experience for me. My grandfathers grandfather crossed the trail. He was born in England, and came across to Utah with his family. Other members of my ancestry crossed the plains. This experience helped me to connect with them.
