Survivor: Panama

You read the stories about pioneer women who carried their babies or a rolling pin across the prarie- my baby was a Cannon D-SLR! I had been asked previously to attend and photograph trek and I won’t lie- I wasn’t exactly looking forward to it. I knew it would be hard. And I was right.

Someone was giving me a bad time saying my camera wasn't "period authentic" and I retorted "I have antique cameras, but it'd take a lot longer for you to get your pictures!"

And so began trek- the youth were assigned into families, and the 6 Ma and Pa couples were introduced. They each did a little intro cheer. All six were great for the trek. Each family had 7 or 8 kids. The kids got some instructions, and then their “parents” checked through bags. We got loaded into cars and made it to the Fred J. Cusimano Western Overland trail in Panama, NY. I was told to have my stuff in one of the handcarts, and so I became “Auntie Liz” to that family.

The handcarts were loaded with our things as well as a dutch oven, a lantern and some snacks. I wrangled everyone to have family portraits and a big group photo, and then they were off! They started through a field, it was fairly easy- and then it got more difficult once we entered the forest. Puddles, mud, roots, and creeks abounded. They had “hardships” too- one family had to bury their beanbag “baby”, another had to wait for 20 minutes under their handcart to wait out the “snowstorm”. Another family had to walk for twenty minutes without shoes. Thursday’s hiking was the longest and hardest- it had the most hills (and the steepest) up and down to get the handcarts through. I was quite tired by the end of the day, somehow my hips kept making my legs move.

We had delays and lost light and didn’t make it to where we were supposed to camp (and have dinner) so we wound up staying in a someone’s field. We had snacks (jerky), but not dinner because they couldn’t get it to us- a tree was down on the road. My girl, Katie had to go home (other kids went home too for medical reasons) because she had a bad asthma attack and her ankles gave out. She was a trooper, she worked hard pushing that handcart. Well, lucky Katie- she missed the thunderstorm. I slept on a tarp (it’s amazing how great the ground can feel when you’re tired!) and had a tarp over me but my sleeping stuff still got wet. Thankfully my duffle bag and camera bag were in plastic, they were fine. Families put together lean-tos with tarps off of their handcarts to huddle under, but I knew there wouldn’t be room for me. I wound up running to the pickup truck used to haul the porta-potties and sleeping a little bit in there. No one got more than an hour or two of sleep.

Breakfast was jerky again and the rain died down. I made the mistake of changing into dry socks…and then it opened up and absolutely monsooned! It was so depressing! It poured and poured and the wind was up, too. I had a long poncho but still got drenched. At one point I had one of the girls under it with me, she didn’t have rain gear and was getting soaked. I have never been so wet in my entire life, taking a shower would be drier! And I’m a Washingtonian! I’m used to rain! My skirt was soaked, water squished out from my shoes as I walked. I was so miserable and depressed. We finally left the field after we got packed up (wet bedding was taken to a Laundromat to be dried- it would never dry outside with all the humidity) and headed for the wooded trail. After a couple miles, we made it to where we should have camped had we made it that far- a site that had two covered lean-tos! Arrgh! We waited there for awhile, tried to dry out. I was very happy to get a biscuit with jam- my blood sugar had dropped from not having dinner or breakfast and I felt like crap. The sun came out, we were a bit drier, and definitely happier.

Most of the trail is through the woods- more humid, but I don’t deal well with a lot of sun, so I was happy. Lots more hills and water crossings while we hiked. Luckily for me, I had bridges, but a lot of the time the hardcarts wouldn’t fit so they had to be pulled through. In the early afternoon, we made it to another field where we were to camp. We rested for awhile, I got a nap in the grass which was great. We set up shelters for the night (we got help building a fabulous one for us gals in my family) since it would likely rain again and helped make chicken/vegetable stew in dutch ovens that was very good. After dinner somehow the kids had energy to do squaredancing and they loved it. Squaredancing ended early as the storm was coming in.

We had been promised the barn in case of bad weather and good thing because a thunderstorm came right over us. I grabbed my things and ran over to the barn and got there just in time before I would have gotten drenched! We got bales of hay down and made a layer on the floor for sleeping. Boys on one side, girls on the other, with Ma and Pa’s in the middle. I wound up in the back corner as the dividing line between the boys and girls. Oh, and I wound up sleeping on straw that was on top of a conveyor belt! I was on the same level as the girls, but was afraid I’d fall off the edge onto the boys that were two feet below! The hay was kindof a Craftmatic adjustable bed for me (ergonomic to my body) and I did manage to get some decent sleep- without killing the boys below! My legs got all scratched up from climbing to where I was to sleep. It didn’t help that I got moved several times by leaders.

You see the hay on the conveyor belt? That's where I slept!

I was thankful for the barn- it really stormed! The wind was up, it poured, and the lightning flashed brightly through the cracks in the barn. The thunder was really loud, right over us. And hey, now I can say I’ve slept in a barn!

It stopped raining in the morning and we awoke to find our leaders cooking breakfast in dutch ovens- eggs, potatoes, cornbread and leftover peach cobbler. Totally yum. After breakfast, each person got to brand their name onto their family’s handcart and off we went. More wooded trail for most of the day. I lost track of how many times the kids pushed the handcarts through creeks, it was so many. The boys were called away to the Mormon Battalion and for about an hour (and a little over a mile) it was just the women pulling the handcarts. Instead of having 6 or 7 people to push a handcart, they were reduced to 3 or 4. It was great to see the women and girls band together to get each handcart over a bridge (having to line it up just so or else it would topple off) and then through a big creek. There were hills, too. They were exhausted, but great. You go, girl!

The guys came back grouped together singing “Army of Helaman”, it was great. But even after they came back, they couldn’t help or speak to the women, only watch. Many spoke later about how hard that was to watch and not be able to help. Later they were allowed to help and we continued on. Later in the afternoon, each youth had time to go out into the woods and write in their journal.

And then we made it to the finish line! Happy Day! The youth had testimony meeting (accompanied by a girl who played the violin) which was great. Parents and leaders came to congratulate them. Afterwards, I wrangled families back together for an “after” picture and everyone grabbed their gear and headed for home. It started raining again once I got in the car!

At the beginning of trek, everyone was handed a piece of paper with a pioneer’s name and age on it. Mine was named Mary- and she was 64! I was like Hey! I’m not that old! It was hilarious to hear the youth ask each other how old “they” were- some were 25 or 30 and saying they were old! I was like, just you wait! At the end of the trail you got information saying what happened to your person on the trail. I was hoping that Mary had been tough and made it to Salt Lake, but she died along the way. She too was known as “Aunt Mary” and she pulled a hardcart in the Martin company with a young woman named Elizabeth. Elizabeth made it to Salt Lake and married Mary’s nephew who was already there. I joked to myself “That Elizabeth got a husband at the end of her trek, where’s mine?”

Was trek hard? YES. I was tired enough from walking (about 16 miles in all), I don’t know how the kids survived pushing a cart through the muck. This trek was more difficult than the one I went on as a youth. The rain on Thursday night/Friday morning just about did me in, I so wanted to go home. But then I pushed through that and felt so much stronger. I think this was a great lesson to the youth that they can do hard things- and thrive. It was a great experience for everyone. The youth really loved it. The youth in the stake are already close, but I think this definitely helped cement them together even more. It was really sweet watching them help one another and to watch family help family- we had to yell at the kids to stop helping and move on because they were so bent on helping.

I came home so disgusting and dirty! Truly revolting! Not to mention I had hay everywhere from the barn- in my hair, in my bedding, etc. I’m still cleaning up! I was very thankful for a shower and a nice bed! And shelter from the elements!