Mormon ‘pioneers’ hit the trails

On Thursday, July 28, about 100 people — 58 youths between the ages of 12 and 18 and 46 adults — donned pioneer-style attire and set off on trails in the Santa Cruz Mountains to replicate a trek taken by their spiritual ancestors.
Seven congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Santa Cruz County were represented as they struck out across the mountains to commemorate the 1,300-mile journey taken by 3,000 Mormon pioneers between 1856 and 1860 from Illinois to Utah to escape persecution.
The participants were divided into “families” of four to six, each led by an adult married couple, as they trekked from just north of Davenport toward the vicinity of Big Basin State Park, where they will arrive Saturday, July 30.
The idea behind the trek, the third since 2004, is to “create a wilderness atmosphere that will, as much as possible, put everyone in that time period,” according to public relations coordinator Wes Sims.
In addition to dressing in period-appropriate clothing, the pioneers could take with them only 17 pounds of baggage each, which they pulled in human-powered wooden carts.
“The main goal is to appreciate the history of the church and the movement west,” Sims said.