Packing List

**This is a preliminary list and may be subject to change. Your final list will come from your ward TREK directors.

It is recommended that you WRITE YOUR NAME on all of your belongings with a permanent marker.

What to Pack:

  • Pioneer clothing – 2 or 3 complete sets. No jeans or denim.

  • Shoes – 2 pairs (1 should be water shoes, not flip flops)

  • Jacket – lightweight but warm or a sweatshirt. (This can be rolled into a sleeping bag to save space)

  • Sack lunch for the first day – take with you for travel

  • Sleeping bag – warm, good quality. Place in waterproof bag or garbage bag. Label bag with your name on a piece of duct tape.

  • Small pillow

  • Sleeping pad – small pad that can fit in garbage bag with sleeping bag and pillow

  • Work gloves – 1 pair, warm soft, leather or cheap work gloves with non-slip grips for handcart pulling.

  • Warm Pajamas – 1 set, modest, to sleep in (it will get cold at night)

  • Rain Poncho – VERY IMPORTANT

  • Bandana – 1 or 2:)

  • Socks – 4 pairs (2-3 should be wool, liners are optional)

  • Underclothing – 4 sets

  • Small flashlight – with new batteries

  • Winter hat – for cold evenings and nights

  • Sunglasses

  • Large Ziploc bags or plastic grocery bags – to store clean or dirty clothes

  • Reusable sturdy water bottle/hydration pack

  • Small Book of Mormon

  • A 5 gallon bucket with padded seat lid.

Personal Items:

  • Small comb or brush

  • Toothbrush, paste & floss

  • Deodorant

  • Small hand towel

  • Hand Sanitizer

  • Chafing Powder (if you think you will need it)

  • Tissues or wet wipes (for hygiene)

  • Sunblock SPF above 30

  • Sanitary supplies for young women

  • Medicine as needed 

  • Insect repellant with DEET 30 strong or higher

  • Lip balm/Chapstick with SPF

  • If you have an insulated water bottle you may use it but be responsible and make sure you drink regularly.

  • Small/personal first aid kit: (optional)

  • 6 Band-Aids

  • tweezers

  • sterile gauze pads, 2×2

  • adhesive tape

  • 1 moleskin, 3×6 inch

  • 1 small tube antibiotic ointment or Neosporin ointment packs

  • 1 travel size bottle of hand sanitizing gel

What Not to Pack:

Personal music and players, game systems of any kind, other electronic devices, lotions, aftershave, hairspray, gel, makeup or perfumes (they attract bugs that bite).

What to pack inside your 5 gallon bucket:

  • Other sets of Pioneer clothes (wear one set to the church for when we leave.)

  • Small Book of Mormon

  • water shoes with a ziplock bag/grocery sack to put them in when they get wet

  • Socks

  • Sets of underclothing

  • Heavy duty plastic bag/Ziploc bag

  • Small flashlight

  • Personal items

  • Jacket/Sweatshirt or light coat (can go in your garbage bag with sleeping bag too)

**Everything needs to fit inside your 5 gallon bucket except for jacket, sleeping bag, pillow, and sleeping pad. You can choose to bring your pillow on the bus or bundle it with your sleeping bag and sleeping pad. Your jacket,( other warm clothes items) sleeping bag and sleeping pad need to be put in a large garbage sack labeled with your name. This will be loaded in your ward trailer the night before we leave for TREK. Your 5 gallon bucket and lunch will be brought with you the morning of departure and buckets will be put under the bus.


Bring with you to the church on Wednesday morning: (you will get a drawstring daypack (no need to bring a separate backpack) to put your lunch and water bottle in. It will also have a journal and a lanyard with the Trek schedule on it. You will use the daypack each day on Trek to carry your water and lunch, along with work gloves, sunglasses, chapstick, poncho, sunscreen, insect repellent,  water shoes, and extra socks.)

  • Sack lunch

  • your 5 gallon bucket

  • Water bottle filled with water and ice

  • Small pillow (this will be the same pillow you will sleep with)


Pioneer Attire for Women:

1-2 complete pioneer outfits, light colors are best.

An outfit would either be:

A complete pioneer dress about 6 inches from the ground in length. No denim.

OR

A long pioneer skirt about 6 inches from the ground with a modest long sleeve top. (no t-shirts)

Western style hat or wide brimmed floppy hat with chin strap to keep it from blowing away. Bonnets are ok but not recommended because they trap the heat.

2-3 pairs of bloomers or lightweight knee length shorts to be worn under pioneer skirts. Scrubs work well (helps avoid chafing and bug bites). Do NOT bring leggings to wear under a dress as it will keep the heat in. The Wyoming Trek missionaries stressed this over and over in leader training. Countless girls make this mistake, and suffered heat exhaustion, don’t you be one of them.

1-2 aprons with pockets.

Pioneer Attire for Men:

2-3 pairs of pioneer style pants – Dockers type, light colors are best. No denim, camouflage, or sports type pants

2-3 shirts – long sleeve button up cotton shirts, light colors are best, no t-shirts

1 western style hat with strings to keep it from blowing away. A wide brim floppy hat would also be acceptable. No beanies, army hats or baseball caps.

Vest – optional

Suspenders – optional

Purchasing Your Pioneer Clothing:

We want to avoid unnecessary expense, so we encourage making the dresses or skirts yourself if possible. It can be a great learning experience for your youth to take part in this and learn a valuable skill. Another option is to ask family members and friends who have gone on trek if they have clothes you can borrow. Each ward will have a clothing specialist to help you.

Patterns and Sewing:

There are many free patterns on Pinterest and a few simple ones in the Trek Manual pages 28-33. You can also purchase patterns at the fabric store. You can also find out if someone already has one you could borrow. You can visit the How to Dress Like a Pioneer blog for free patterns and ideas.

Skirts:

Skirts are the most practical because tops can be changed to keep clean. Any fabric will do but a lightweight cotton blend calico or solid is probably preferable. Light colors are best. The dresses or skirts need to be about 6 inches from the ground to avoid tripping and tearing but long enough to be authentic. You can access a free pattern for pioneer skirt here.

Aprons:

Aprons with pockets are a great way to have your lip balm and other essentials near by.

Bonnets and Bloomers:

For girls, a bonnet or wide brimmed hat is required. The Wyoming Trek missionaries recommend wide brimmed hats because they reduce sun exposure on the forehead and neck of girls much better than a typical bonnet. Their experience has shown that girls just don’t wear bonnets and in many cases they end up just wearing it around their neck and not on their head. If you want to be more traditional then a bonnet will be just fine also, it’s really up to each individual

Girls bloomers are also essential. They help protect from bugs and bites on your legs. Use a very lightweight fabric and keep the elastic loose enough to be comfortable around the knees. You can use a drawstring instead of elastic for the waste if you want. Be creative and have fun putting your pioneer outfits together.

Please stay with the traditional skirt/dress styles. No split skirts or gaucho pants.

Shoes:

It is not necessary to buy expensive shoes for trek. Just be sure to have sturdy athletic shoes. They can be cross-trainers, trail runners or running shoes. You need good tread on the bottom of your shoes. You can wear hiking shoes but it is not necessary. Shoes should be well broken in before trek to prevent blisters. Water shoes or old tennis shoes are ideal for river crossing. No flip flops or open toe shoes. The shoe size should be comfortably snug while wearing 2 pairs of socks. Too tight or too loose can cause blisters.

Socks:

An excellent way to prevent blisters is to use a rayon or polypropylene sock (or nylon) next to the skin and a wool sock on the outside. This has shown to reduce friction between your shoes and feet. Cotton socks should be avoided.

Bucket:

A great mutual activity would be to pad the lids to make the buckets also serve as comfortable seats