Time is going fast

This summer, two different hawks nested in the trees here at Missionary Village. We also had a nest of owls in the trees. We got the chance to take a picture of two of the hawks. We don't know the species, but I think the other nest was red tails. I was able to walk up to within about fifteen yards of these birds. We get to see them eating a kill pretty regularly as well. They are pretty fun to watch. When the parents had the young out of the nest and were teaching them how to eat fresh food, it was fun to observe.

We went up by Lander on a p-day and there was this pool of water down below. You are not allowed to fish this part of the stream. This hole was full of fish about two pounds up to about five pounds. Mom could not resist the urge to take a picture of some of the fish. They were much larger than they look in the picture.

This is the headstone of the famous Chief Washakie. He was known as being one of the best friends to the whites that they had among the Indian people. He helped the Louis and Clark Expedition a great deal. However, he did not get the same credit or was not as famous as Sacajawea.

This is a famous person that Sister Turek found on the trail. He is looking at the sinks that are up the canyon above Lander. The river goes into the ledge and comes out of the ledges down the canyon a ways.

Return of the river thru the ledges. This is where the fish were that Mom took the picture of earlier.

This is the head stone of this great Indian guide to Lewis and Clark. There are several proported barial sites, but this one is authenticated by the minister that witnessed the burial of her.

This is the cemetary for where Sacajawea is burried. It is cool the way everything is left totally natural except at the grave site itself. There are lots of cut glass and trinkets on the graves. There are a few that have the old bed stead on them.

Look at what I found along the river. Caught this sucker and am proud of the great catch. Good looking thing, don't you think.

This is the famous dog Oscar that we have talked about. This is what he does all day when he is not on treks, as he is very tired. He is a funny dog, but he had to be taken home a couple of weeks ago as he had lost some weight and could hardly walk on one of his legs. However, after the owner came and he showed his excitment, he fought her when she put the rope on him to take him home. He had just claimed another group to trek with and did not want to leave. He apparently got out of his house later on and headed back to trek, but they found him and got him back home. He lives about ten or twelve miles away on a ranch. We don't know if he will be well enough to trek anymore this year.

WOW, WOW, WOW!!! What a fox.

A young hawk that was reared in the trees by our village. There were two different hawk nests by different species of hawks and an owl nest that all produced young. These are the only hawks that are here now, or at least that I have seen recently. It is fun to watch them feed the young, even though they are about the same size as the parents and fly just about as well. I was just lucky to get two of them in the same picture.

Mom is always excited with the young goats. However, they are not as small now, but they sure can keep up with the mom. Sometimes we see as many as five young with a mother. It is like she is baby sitting for the afternoon. One day, while we were on post, a doe gave birth to twins.

Our lawn mower. He lives right around our trailer and the one next door. Sometimes when we leave in the morning, we walk right by him at about five or six foot away. Stupid rabbit does not seem to recognize that there a lot of hawks that are hungry.

A statue of Sacajawea.

That is either a gang sign or the size of fish I caught with my hands, after diving in like a king fisher to grab one. Well, maybe this is the one that got away and the real size is portrayed by the left hand.

Beautiful canyon, women and trip. It was fun to just get away for the day and get out of the box, although we really do not mind the box much. It is a hide away for us as we spend a fair amount of time away from home and it is good to get where we can just rest and hide out.

You stinking, no good, lousy, flower pulling up, munching, ugly critter. This is the guy that pulls up our flowers and drops them on the lawn. Once in a while, he will eat the flowering tops, but mostly he grabs them and pulls them up and apparently does not like the flavor, so just deposits them on the lawn where they dry up and die. Need his head on the wall, so I can throw darts at it. However, you must admit he is not a bad little buck.

Here doggy, doggy. Have a drink. He could hardly walk and was very skinny. Thought I could talk him into a drink as it was very hot, but he just ignores almost anything one tries to do for him including eating. When the kids try to feed him, he usually just ignores them, even when it is good meat,etc. This is the day he went home and has not returned. Stupid mutt anyway.

Lucky us. Another snake show. Just a blow snake at the staging area. We herded him across the yard so he would not get killed. Would have been easier to just pick him up, but we were bored early in the morning while waiting for a trek, so spent the ten minutes herding a snake.

Just a bit of white water on the river that goes down the sink. It is a beautiful little stream and we enjoyed walking up the trail by it for a quarter of a mile or so.

This is what we do!

We have lots and lots of Cottontails that are everywhere. The kids can almost catch them but it never happens, imagine that.

We caught another Rattle Snake. We were at a post called handcart parking. It is just before the people go into the cove. You aren't allowed to take carts into the cove so they park them and then walk through the cove. A lady started up the trail and she heard the snake. It wasn't very aggressive but it did rattle. Most of the snakes here aren't really aggressive. So Elder Turek (yes, I'm getting used to calling him that) caught it and I chopped the head off. We see big Blow Snakes quite a bit but we like them.

We have a few mule deer handing around here and this guy was just sittin' in the water with his head poking up, trying to stay cool.

. This was a young family that came through and we helped them do a river crossing. We tell them the story about the Martin Company and how they went into Martin's Cove to find protection from the weather and firewood to keep from freezing to death. We tell them how they came to the Sweetwater and were devastated when they saw that they had to go through this river in the storm, with wind blowing and ice chunks floating in it. The four young men, including C. A. Huntington stepped up and began packing people over on their backs. They stayed in the water all day, packing people across and then they themselves had to be carried out. They were willing to give their lives if necessary, to help save these people. They then stayed five nights in the Cove and the 20ish rescuers continued to care for these people and keep their fires going. They had to keep putting up their tents when the wind would blow them over. We wonder if C. A. Huntington might have carried Mary Barton (your g g grandmother) across the Sweetwater.

This was a large Stake that also did a river crossing. They reinacted this in total silence, with "Come, Come Ye Saints" playing. Four people from England stopped to watch and had no idea what this was all about. They weren't members, but they could feel the spirit of it and were crying. We then told them a little bit about what happened in 1856. It was pretty emotional.

This is the monument sitting next to the Foot Bridge that was built to honor the four young men that carried the people across the Sweetwater. We have to drive the rovers across this bridge and you have about two inches on each side.

Just a group of trekkers coming towards the Memorial Foot Bridge.

This is one of the families in one of the Wards that was getting ready to head out on the trail. It made me think how fun it would be to have all of my kids and grandkids here. It's amazing how many Wards, neighborhoods and family reunions we have here.

This is what we call staging. This is the area that we are responsible for. This is one of our big groups that arrived and is just getting ready to head out. Sometimes we have between 500 and 1000 people here almost on top of each other. They unload all their stuff, then we check out their handcarts and then they have to load, get water, sometimes eat lunch, organize and then organize again and then we head them towards the Cove or to their camp.

We sure enjoyed meeting Anna, Ben and the boys for lunch in Rawlins. We sure wish we could spend more time with a few of you. Hopefully that will happen soon. If not, we will see you this fall. We love it here but we can't wait to see everyone. Lots of love!!!

I don't think this is working, but it's just a sideways video of the second rattlesnake that we caught. No big deal, just thought you might enjoy it.

Lots of kids and lots of fun!

Still Cold And Rocky

This is a picture of Split Rock. It is one of the fameous landmarks on the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails. It is a bit hard to see, as it is taken from about fifty miles away. The split is about East and West, so also allows people to keep track of directions. The sunsets are out of a fairy tale book. Too bad the cold and wind freezes the eye balls if you try to look.

For only the second time in forty years, the river tops the spillway at Path Finder Dam. The dam is not all that big or high, but the sight is magnificant and worth the time and effort to get there. We enjoyed just getting out of camp and the cold for this evening when the wind was not blowing much and the temperatures were quite nice. The cool dress is required whenever we are "on post" or out in the world. Funny, you do not miss much that the world offers and are quite happy just doing your thing in the box or at the Cove.

The Mormon Trail

Lyn, Jolene Allphin, the famous author and her friend Cheryl Flowers, at a grave of a baby from the Martin Company. We were sworn to secrecy as to whose grave and where it is as it is a famous person's child and many of the family do not know where this is. Those that do, do not want it to become a place for the curious, but rather remain a sacred place of rest.

Jolene Allphin tenderly keeping the grave stones in order so as to preserve the location and show reverence. This was a touching experience for all of us. We were honored to be afforded this much trust by these two fantastic people.

Just a rose between the thorns, or did I somehow get that wrong. In any case, the spirit that attends this child is special and testifies of the Savior and his special love for her and the family she came from.

Just another hard day at the office. We have refinished the floor and sealed it. We have cleaned up plenty of mice and whatever they leave behind and the place is starting to be ok. The flags are what we use to identify and keep track of a group of trekkers when they are on the go around the Cove. The center piece of the office is the statue of the old man on the chair.

The grave site at Rock Crick Hollow commerating the death and burial of thirteen people in one night. This is where, when President Lorimar was the Lord's instrument in the second rescue, placed a couple of flowers on a ten year old girl's name. President Hinkley picked a very large bouquet and put it on her grave, saying, "Bodil is my friend too." What a story this little girl is and what a great spirit she brings to the youth when her story is told. She is a great missionary yet and thousands are helped to find a testimony because of her.

A nothing picture on a cold windy day on the banks of the Sweetwater River. Glad I do not have to get wet or carry people across all day and it is fifty degrees warmer this day than when the real event happened.

I found this rose growing in front of this rare thirty foot high snow drift at Rock Crick Hollow. Having snow here at this time of the year is very rare, and to have this drift is unheard of. Hope the rose does not freeze. Oh wait, she already is.

The Remember monument at Rock Crick Hollow. I do not want to say it was cold, but my girth increased by twenty two inches in just goose bumps. Yet warm and balmy it would have been for the Willie company on this day. They had about a foot of snow and were wet and hungry, just completing up to 27 hours of hiking to get here. Thirteen died the night/day they got here. They also had much less clothing and I do not know how any one person survived this trek. That is the real story. The miracle of life, not the agony of what happened.

Modern wagon train on the old famous Oregon, California, Mormon and Pony Express Trail. This is the trail right where the person is standing.

The last few yards of Rocky Ridge before they got to the top, where they could see forty miles of tough travel in frigid conditions and starvation ahead. Rescued, they were, out of the woods and out of suffering, not a chance. How could they have hope at this point. I cannot get the depth of their faith in the Lord and the gospel. They just clung to the faith and kept going whether they had feet left of not.

No, this is not one of those famous angels of Rocky Ridge. More of one from the darker side.

A big donkey in the traces. Much tougher than it looks and I was glad for all the help I could have. Could not have done it on my own, so how did sweet Elsie, pull her husband up the Ridge all by herself. He was about my height, but a lot skinner and she was about five foot and probably weighted about ninety pounds at this time.

The depression we are standing in, is the old historic trail.

Success is a hug from a doll at the top of the Ridge. It was great, but do not think I would go up the Ridge just for that feeble hug again.

Keep them doggies moving, even though the streems are swollen. Well, it is much more special than that and those who made or died trying to make it will welcome those that make other special sacrifices into the Celestial relm, as that is where they are and the spirit of this place so testifies.