BLACKFOOT — A large group of Blackfoot LDS East Stake members were gearing up Tuesday night to travel the way the pioneers did.

Close to 200 youths from the stake along with adult leaders will be going to the south side of Evanston, Wyo., where they will be making an annual pioneer trek, re-enacting what their pioneer ancestors did in crossing the plains.

They will be shuttled to the Evanston area, where they will be hiking 25 miles over the course of three days, pulling or pushing handcarts, according to Elena Holbrook, a support member and a youth leader in her congregation.

“They’ll be in families, they’ll stick with their families, and the families will each have their own cart,” Holbrook said. “They’ll have a bucket with their belongings, and they’ll be wearing clothing reminiscent of that time.”

The support group will include helpers setting up camp each day.

“We’ll make sure they’re all hydrated,” Holbrook said.

Upon arrival at Evanston, the groups will get their wagons, load up, and form a wagon train.

Holbrook said the trek usually involves youth ages 14 and up, but this year one of the leaders felt strongly that younger children should be involved as well.

“We’ve asked the youth to see if they can find some pioneer ancestors, find out about them and their lives and what they did, and do the walk in their honor,” Holbrook said. “We’ve asked them to share that experience.”

On the last day of the trek, teenage girls and women will have to push or pull a handcart up a hill to get a feel for the experience the pioneer women went through when they didn’t have a spouse to do it, she added.