Heritage Gateways

Margaret Clark Journals

July 19, 1997

Location: East Canyon State Park, Utah - Between Henefer and Birch Springs.

Summary: We stop for a few days in East Canyon

Journal entry: I guess it's cause we are almost there and I am getting so anxious, but another rest day!!!!! The valley is just over the hill. I can't stand it, but I know if I go there I won' be able to come back, so here I stay.....on this side of the Wasatch Mountains. We are camped on the north side of East Canyon Reservoir. It is a beautiful spot. The wagons and a lot of the support vehicles are up on the hill and the rest of us are down here in a beautiful grassy field. Utah is just beautiful to me. Maybe there was a lot of rain, but everything is green. There are a lot of folks that went to the big city. Some are swimming and water skiing. Some are just resting. We had a good amount of visitors from down below come up and see the wagons and horses

We drove to Park City to do our laundry and buy groceries. If those pioneers were alive today and could see what has happened to Parleys Park they would be amazed. I am amazed! It has grown up. I hated to do it, but we drove back to East Canyon along the road we have to walk on Monday. It is a scary road. A lot of up and a lot of down. We are going to have to be strong on Monday to get to Little Mountain. I certainly know why it is called Big Mountain. We wondered as we looked down over Big Mountain if that was the place the good sister pushed her handcart over the cliff. My children have a new respect (or maybe it is a new disrespect) for the value of the handcart.

Tonight my sister Janet and her husband, Don, came to visit. It was so good to see family again. Many people on the train are welcoming friends and family here to visit. It is like a big reunion. We are being prompted on the procedure for the entrance into the Valley on Tuesday, on the parades for Wednesday and Thursday, and so forth. There has been a great deal of preparation for our arrival. I am sure I have no idea the preparations that have been made, but it sounds incredible.

We all look forward to the end. This is a very hard journey. But we are also wanting the joy of our times together to last. I guess that will last only in our memories and our re-telling of the stories. It has been a great deal of fun and we truly love each other. But, as they say.... All good things must come to an end. And so must this epic journey. It has been grand. It has been great. And it will probably never happen again.

Tonight I want to mention a few people who have been with us on the train and performed some of the smaller, but important tasks. First there is Jolene. Jolene came here right towards the beginning of the train with her children. They are from Houston. She felt a wonderful spirit and wanted to stay. Since her children are home-schooled, they stayed and made themselves available to help. Jolene now distributes hay and feed for the horses and keeps track of the records. She also helps at check-in as do some of her children. I'm sure there are many other smaller tasks she does, as she just makes herself available wherever needed.. Thanks Jolene and your children for your service.

Crystal also came at the beginning. She was going to stay only a few days, and here she is. Crystal was in charge of making sure the right people got fed all through Nebraska. This was a tremendous help. In Wyoming we did food differently, so Crystal has helped with other things including check-in, and scheduling information. She has performed some good services. Besides, we love her incredible laugh.

Since we arrived in Wyoming, Alice Walker has been in charge of the food service. There are times when she had to put food together and times when she had to make sure other people got the food together. But, no matter which way, there has been wonderful meals and a great variety since she came on board. Food is such an important part of this whole trek and we couldn't have had a better gal to do it. She takes her job on the train very seriously. I will always remember the day we were out on the trail and we ran out of lunches. Alice was so upset about this that the sandwiches were prepared by a local restaurant and brought in. She was in tears she felt so badly that some people had missed lunch. What a lovely, conscientious lady. We have all enjoyed having you with us. And thanks for the great food! You've done yourself proud.

We have so many people who do the small and important jobs out here. There are many camp jacks who clean our camps after we leave and pick up the trash and hay and other stuff that animals leave behind. I am afraid to name anyone, cause I know I'd forget someone. But I have to mention Richard Jenkins. What a neat guy. And grandpa, too. They are troopers. We've had a lot of campjacks come and go. I just wish I could name them all, but I can't.

The moon is full tonight. It is a spectacular sight. It is so bright, there are hardly any stars visible. I think this is the fourth full moon I have seen since we started this trek. It is so hard to believe this much time has passed, but it seems like forever, too. It will be good to find my home again and put down roots, to see my neighbors and sit on the front lawn and watch the moon come over the eastern mountains. I even look forward to running water and flushing toilets and knowing which valley I will be sleeping in that night. Such simple pleasures. HappyNetTrekking!