Biking the Mormon Trail Part I: Chimney Rock to Fort Laramie

I finally began my Mormon Trail journey a few weeks ago.  As I said in Following in Their Footsteps, my goal is to travel from Chimney Rock to Fort Bridger by bicycle, a total of 500 miles.  Not knowing yet the limits of my endurance, I decided that it would be okay to do the trail in segments, one segment at a time.  If all goes well, I can plan for a week long trek next year.

I set a date and Collin and I prepared for a three day trip in early August.  My original plan covered almost 150 miles.  Well, as you'll see, that was overly optimistic.  In the end, we did just over 100 miles in 2.5 days.  That settles it, 50 miles a day is about all I can expect realistically given my current shape and desire to sight-see.  That means I'll need 10 days to finish my goal of 500 miles.  My Mormon pioneer ancestors traveled
 about 1000 miles in 100 days.  500 in 10 seems like a good compromise for a time-constrained modern like myself.

As part of this experience, I have chosen to read The Mormon Vanguard Brigade of 1847 edited by Ronald Barney which contains the record of pioneer Norton Jacob.  Jacob kept a journal that spans the entire trek from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley. For each travel day I will estimate the equivalent periods of travel from Jacob's journal.

Day 1:  Friday 8/5/2011. (5/26 - 5/27 1847)
Late in the afternoon, Robyn dropped us off at the Chimney Rock National Historic Site.  Before Robyn left, the whole family spent some time in the visitor's center.  It is a nice museum with some fun interactive exhibits. Chimney Rock is an impressive feature.  I can imagine my ancestors looking forward to seeing it after hundreds or miles of flat plains.

Serene, pleasant morning.  Started at 8 oclock & after passing 4 5/8 miles came on a line directly North of the famous Chimney rock on the opposite side of the river.  It is two hundred & fifty feet high... --Norton Jacob 5/26/1847

Collin and I said our good bye's at about 5:30 PM.  We traveled to  Gering via NE-92 then turned north to find the Rebecca Winter's Gravesite. Her grave is a reminder of the estimated 6,000 L.D.S pioneers who died en route to the west.  It was near here that we crossed to the north side of the Platte.  From here on out, we'd be on the same bank as our Mormon ancestors.

We camped 4 miles west of Scotts Bluff having arrived after dark and made about 30 miles.


Day 2: Saturday 8/6/2011 (Fri 5/28 - 5/31 1847)
During the night a cat pestered us mightily.  It begged incessantly and pressed on our tent while we slept.  The weight of him woke me up once.  We got on the road at 9:30.  I had hoped to start at 8.  Very hot day.  It felt like the 90 degrees by mid morning.  I got my first flat near Mitchell.  While trying to avoid the rumble strip, I hit a sharp rock.  The tube burst with a loud pop and swoosh.  Green goo (that puncture preventative inside the tub) sprayed out onto my leg and panniers.  After repairing the flat, we were just in time to see the beginning of the county parade held in Mitchell.
After Mitchell we stopped at trail historical points of interest such as the 1851 Plains Indians Treaty marker.  Collin got his flat tire as we approached the Rawhide Creek pull out.  Just as the pioneers liked to "noon" at Rawhide, Collin and I rested there to repair a flat under the shade of a huge cottonwood.

Afternoon made 7 miles over a sandy road & camped on a creek of muddy water 12 feet wide that may be called Sand Creek [Rawhide Creek], for it is the character of the whole country around, with scattering bunches of grass. --Norton Jacob 5/31/1847

After the flat, we enjoyed rest and food in Torrington and then kept on until we reached 2 miles short of Fort Laramie.  This was an exhausting hot day.  We made 53 miles.

Near Scotts Bluff, Brigham Young had chastised the saints for a "spirit of levity" and "neglect of duty".  There was a call to repentance and a day of fasting on Sunday.  It was on this stretch of the trip that I began to appreciate the gravity of Brigham Young's situation.  The vanguard was responsible for trail blazing, finding a desert home, and then planting crops so that thousands of saints would have something to come to.  The stakes were high and discipline was essential.

Day 3 Sunday 8/7/11 (Tuesday 6/1-6/5 1847)
We couldn't attend  organized church services since the nearest meeting house was 50 miles away, so we opted for a restful morning with a devotional.  Apropos, we studied Doctrine and Covenants 136 (Brigham Young's 1847 revelation).

In the afternoon we visited the Fort Laramie National Historic Site. (Fort Laramie is not the same as the city of Laramie WY which lies 120 miles south).  The fort was another significant landmark for the pioneers as well as a great place to trade goods and gather intelligence.  In 1847 it was a trading fort, not a military fort.  The military presence didn't begin until 1849.

The vanguard company spent two days here repairing wagons and then crossing the river.  It is at Fort Laramie that the Mormon and Oregon trails converge.  Prior to the fort, the Mormon trail keeps to the north bank of the North Platte while the Oregon Trail is on the south bank.  Brigham Young decided to cross over at Fort Laramie due to reports of marshy terrain up ahead. Here the vanguard company also met up with a group of saints coming up from Pueblo.

We have dug down the banks & are prepared for ferrying our Waggons over --Norton Jacob 6/2/1847

North Platte near Fort Larmie

The National Park Service does a pretty good job of making the fort into a fun destination.

Living history actors at Fort Laramie

Cannon Demonstration

Nathan and Collin near the site of the fort with the Laramie River behind them

After Fort Laramie we visited the nearby "Bedlam Ruts".  The ruts here are the actual Mormon/Oregon/California trail untouched by modern development.  Collin and I took the opportunity to hike the actual trail for a few hundred yards.  In the photo below look closely for the slight depression still visible in the ground.  Vegetation has grown back over the trail.  The marker says "Mormon Trail" on the side facing the camera, "Oregon Trail" on the back and "California Trail" on the side.

Collin stands to the left of the ruts next to a trail marker.

After the Bedlam ruts we returned to our campsite and packed up.  I called Robyn and arranged for our pick up near Guernsey, 20 miles up U.S. 26.  This last stretch of road turned out to be grueling for us.  It was very hot, we had a strong headwind, it was up-hill, and our butts were sore.  We definitely noticed the change in terrain from the previous day.  Norton Jacob described the terrain as "a table Land which is rolling for several miles".  This is the sort of thing that you notice more when travelling by bicycle.  Collin and I crashed for a while at a Wyoming rest stop which overlooks the Oregon trail from the north side of the Platte.

Late in the afternoon we made it to the Oregon Trail Ruts National Historic Landmark site.  Here thousands of iron-shod wheels and hooves carved deep ruts into the soft sandstone.

Finally Robyn and the kids caught up with us and we had a little evening picnic at Register Cliff State Historic Site.  

So ended our first 100 miles along the Mormon Trail!  The hardships of those pioneers is awe inspiring. Their trek is nothing less than heroic. But amidst the trials and toils, they saw untamed beauty and experienced the adventure of a lifetime.  

P.S.

On the way home to Colorado our van broke down on I-25.  Stranded at midnight we almost resorted to using our bicycles to get help when a county deputy found us and called in a tow truck.  It made for a very late night. 

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