Preserving The Heritage | Trek 2015

August 18, 2015

I had the absolute honor of going on Trek this year. I took a break from shooting weddings to do a Pioneer reenactment with the youth and leaders of my Stake. I filmed the 3 days that our group spent on the trail. Miracles happened over those 3 days, and most, if not all of the people who participated experienced an increase in their own Testimony. I am grateful for being asked to put together a video for the group. Click below to watch the video. 

From humble beginnings

Pioneer trek reenactments have been happening since at least 1947, when Utah Latter-day Saints commemorated the 100-year anniversary of their arrival in Utah, said Tyson Thorpe of the Church History Library. In the years following, certain LDS wards and stakes began organizing their own treks, though it wasn't common practice. Treks gradually became a Latter-day Saint youth activity, becoming a part of youth conferences at Brigham Young University in the 1970s.

The church-wide popularity of treks, however, began in 1997, at the sesquicentennial mark of the Mormons' arrival in the Salt Lake Valley. In the summer of 1997, hundreds of church members retraced segments of the 1,300-mile route from Nauvoo, Ill., to Salt Lake City. The new trek got considerable media coverage nationally, and sparked exponential popularity of these recreations within the church.

Martin's Cove, a part of the Mormon trail near Casper, Wyo., has become the go-to trek site for Latter-day Saints. Elder Lorin Maunch, who serves as director of the Martin's Cove historic site, said it has received approximately 23,000 people this year coming to recreate the trek — the most the site has ever had. The trek phenomenon has also spawned a number of trek sites across the country, including locations in California, Washington and Florida — a mix of Church-run and privately owned locations.