The Honeymoon Trail

FOR FRIENDS AND LOVERS: The Honeymoon Trail

The route gained its romantic name from Mormon bridal couples who, in days gone by, went from Arizona to St. George, Utah, to have their marriage ceremonies pronounced in the Temple.

It was just a wagon track across the deserts and valleys of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. Like the old cattle trails of the West, it followed the line of least resistance. If there was a single bridge or culvert on its Beginning in 1878 and lasting until the late 1920s, hundreds of couples (perhaps thousands) rode the Honeymoon Trail, from settlements as distant as western New Mexico. In 1982, Lisa Hafner and Paul Reber made the journey and were actually married at the temple in St. George. "It was something we dreamt about doing and will tell our grandchildren about."

(Inset) The Covered Wagon Trek Reenactment becomes a shared adventure each year for many young families, some hoping to find what grandparents experienced on the trail at the turn of the century.

many deep muddy "washes" or rocky canyons, this writer never saw them. Where hills and mountains were in its way it simply either went up and over them, or else dodged them by going miles around. When washes were running belly deep to a horse and as swift as a horse could run, the wagons went into camp and waited, sometimes days, for the water to stop running. Often, when it did stop, there were two or three feet of soft, sticky mud deposited on the crossing which necessitated hitching three or four teams of horses aided by long ropes pulled by the men and women to get the heavily loaded wagons through and across.

Will C. Barnes Arizona Highways December, 1934 Today, the Honeymoon Trail is all but forgotten, but each September its yesterdays come alive again when the annual Honeymoon Trail Wagon Trek Pageant takes place.

The five-day, 75-mile covered wagon journey back in time, climbs the last leg of the old trail, between Pipe Spring National Monument and the Mormon Temple at St. George, Utah.

Since the reenactment began, back in 1975, over 350 people of all ages have ridden the trail, and many have repeated the trek several years in a row.

Adding to the magic of this outdoor adventure are teamsters and wranglers and just plain folk dressed in the styles of frontier days: calico and homespun, buckskin and denim. And providing its own kind of sorcery is superb dutch oven cooking over evening campfires, replete with song and

The Honeymoon Trail

dance and good conversation - all under a roof of stars.

Wagonmaster is lean and weathered Mel Heaton of Moccasin, Arizona, on the Arizona Strip. He led the inaugural trek in preparation for a National Park Service Bicentennial project. Then, when the Service withdrew sponsorship, Heaton carried on, turning it into a successful annual event.

To put participants in the proper frame of mind, the trek begins with a tour of colorful Pipe Spring National Monument's living history museum.

Built originally as a fort from which no shot was ever fired, the beautiful old stone building is set in proud seclusion at the edge of magnificent red cliffs and surrounded by huge old cottonwoods.

The stronghold for many years actually was a favorite stopping place for Honeymoon Trail travelers.

Today, docents in ankle-length dresses and sunbonnets point out antique treasures in each of the many rooms, as they recount the fort's long and colorful history.

It's off to the wagons once the tour is completed. And like a scene out of the past, the creaking caravan, accompanied by several outriders, heads out over a sea of grass and wild flowers.

In five days time, averaging 15 miles a day, the trekkers experience 75 miles of hilly grassland, impressive mountain ranges, abandoned homesteads, and not a little bit of the history of this wide open country.

But the covered wagon trail ride isn't all sitting and enjoying the scenery, either. There's a touch of high excitement, too, when the caravan takes a wild ride down a plunging 1500-foot switchback known as the Rock Canyon Dugway.

Built by hand during the latter part of the 19th century, the rutted dugway pierces a natural fault called the Hurricane Cliffs. "And makes even the toughest outdoorsman pause," says Heaton, "especially when he realizes we're actually going to go down that in a wooden wagon with iron-rimmed wheels. And all we've got is a block of wood for a brake and a double team of horses up front!" And down they do go.

But as the old-timers on this section of trail did, the women and children and regular passengers climb out of the wagons and walk to the bottom of the track, where they can safely watch the action.

(Counter-clockwise, from top) Calendars and digital clocks rule our lives. But not on the Honeymoon Trail Wagon Trek. Whether it's 1883 or 1983 makes little difference. At day's end camp still is set up within circled wagons, shoeing a spooked horse still is a tough job even for brawny teamsters, breakfast still includes dutch oven biscuits, hot and dripping with butter. And for friendly conversation there's still time enough.

The Honeymoon Trail

However, the highlight of the trek really comes at the end of the trail, when the caravan delivers a young couple to be married at the temple at St. George. Lisa and Paul Reber made the trip last year and joined hands to the accompaniment of a string band and an audience of new friends.

A fitting conclusion to a unique experience. Just as it must have been on the first trip down the Honeymoon Trail, long years ago.

Editors note: For more information about the Honeymoon Trail Wagon Trek Pageant and other trips, write or call: Melvin C. Heaton, Honeymoon Trail, Inc., Moccasin, AZ 86022; (602) 643-5584.

Val Stannard of Prescott, Arizona, has been photographing and writing for outdoor publications for 10 years. Her wildlife photography has taken her from the Canadian Rockies to Africa.

The ultimate in travel vehicles on the Honeymoon Trail during the 19th century was yesterday's equivalent of the motor home, the sheepherder's wagon. But often the equipage was the reliable farm wagon pulled by draft horses. Not available were portable generators, cooling systems, or showers. Only native ingenuity and the skills of a people close to the land.

(Left, above) Antique wooden farm wagons restored to trail condition are the vehicles today on the covered wagon trek. (Clockwise, from above) Day begins as the wranglers round up the horses. On the trail, a loose rim gets a teamster's immediate attention. Cooling down the team after a hard pull. A serenade for the honeymooners. The Mormon Temple at St. George, completed in 1877.