Pioneer Trek in Alaska

Dear Family,

This last week I have learned that carrying off a successful Pioneer Trek in Alaska involves a lot of four wheelers, riffle packing priesthood brethren (to discourage the many bears in the area), handcarts with wheel spokes made out of rebar, and youth capable (and excited about) weather ranging 20s to 70s all in the same day while crossing at least 8 glacier fed rivers. Jeremy and I were lucky enough to be a “Ma and Pa” in this crazy group of Alaskan Pioneers. I won’t bore you with a detailed description of our day to day events, but it was a wonderful experience that we were both grateful to be a part of. We “trekked” for a full 12 hours the first day and I nearly cried when I saw making dinner was going to take at least 2 hours using Dutch ovens (I have never cooked with them before!). I was impressed with the attitude of the youth (and leaders) and also grateful for how well the “families” fit together.

Other than laying on the floor recovering from the fact that we are a lot older than we thought, we are busing looking and applying for jobs in the Vancouver, WA area. We will see what comes of it and are just enjoying the extra time with Jeremy’s family until we are able to move.

With love,
Jeremy, Tammy, Elora, Eli and Eve Rampton