Run to Zion

Some women and I are having a "race" to see who can walk/run/bike/exercise their way across the Pioneer trail. I believe everyone that is participating is LDS (mormon) but anyone is welcomed to join. 

Background:

"THE MORMON PIONEER TRAIL

Few years in the Far West were more notable than 1846. That year saw a war start with Mexico, the Donner-Reed party embark on their infamous journey into a frozen world of indescribable horror, and the beginning of the best organized mass migration in American history. The participants of this migration, the Mormons, would establish thriving communities in what was considered by many to be a worthless desert.

From 1846 to 1869, more than 70,000 Mormons traveled along an integral part of the road west, the Mormon Pioneer Trail. The trail started in Nauvoo, Illinois, traveled across Iowa, connected with the Great Platte River Road at the Missouri River, and ended near the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Generally following pre-existing routes, the trail carried tens of thousands of Mormon emigrants to a new home and refuge in the Great Basin. From their labors arose the State of Deseret, later to become the Utah Territory, and finally the State of Utah."

The Rules

Walk/Run/Bike/Exercise your way across all 1297 miles of the Mormon Pioneer Trail. Anyone who makes it is a winner. 

Each mile or every 15 minutes of exercise count towards this goal (as most people can generally walk a 15 minute mile). 

Me So far:

Nauvoo (Start) 

Sugar creek (7) 

Richardson’s point (35) 

Chariton River Crossing (80) 

Locust Creek (103) 

Garden Grove (128)
Mount Pisgah (153) 

(7/31 180.02 miles so far!)


Nishnabotna River crossing (232) 

Grand Encampment (255) 

Council Bluffs (265) 

Winter Quarters (266) 

Elkhorn River Crossing (293) 

Platte River (305) 

Loup Fork (352) 

Fort Kerny (469)


(9/22 476 miles)

Confluence Point (563) 

Ash Hallow (646) 

Chimney Rock (718) 

Scotts Bluff (738) 

Fort Laramie (788) 

Upper Platte (Mormon) Ferry (914) 

Red Buttes (940) 

Sweetwater Rive r(964) 

Independence Rock (965) 

Devils Gate (970) 

Martins Cove (993) 

Rocky Ridge (1038) 

Rock Creek (1048) 

South Pass (1065) 

Green River: Lombard Ferry (1128) 

Fort Bridger (1183) 

Bear River Crossing (1216) 

The Needles (1236) 

Echo Canyon (1246) 

Big Mountain (1279) 

Golden Pass Road (1281) 

Emigration Canyon (1283) 

Salt Lake Valley (1297)

It would be great if I could finish by my birthday

 (January 31st) but that would require 44 miles a week. If I

 were to commit to 4 miles a day 6 days a week, that would be

 24 miles and leave another 20 miles a week. I might be able 

to do it on the bike, but I'm not making any promises. 

Rewards:

At 250, 500, and 1000 miles we will have t-

shirts that say something along the lines of 

Run to Zion 500 mile club. 

At 1297 miles we will have shirts that say

 something along the lines of, " I Ran to Zion". 

Of course there are many more valuable 

rewards. Being healthier, having more 

discipline, being happier (exercise always 

produces those feel good endorphins), and a 

smokin' hot body is a plus as well!