Based on our experience at Martin's Cove, I would suggest that people going in the future do the following:
Avoid having too many meetings in preparation for the trek. It's good to be prepared, but too many meetings can exhaust already overburdened parents and leaders and even set expectations of the youth too high. The youth in our stake were lectured continually about not wasting this incredible, life-changing experience. Knowing the rebellious mind-sets of many youth, it would work better to simply let them experience it first hand and come to their own conclusions about its life changing powers. In other words, the really humbling, transformative things are going to happen on the trek, not in unnecessary meetings and long orientations before you go.
Don't try to economize so much on food that the youth end up fixating on each meal's weird or poor quality. For example, our stake purchased a ton of pre-cooked potatoes from a local university and used them in various ways in four successive meals. They were already disgusting for the first meal (slimy, slug-like grey masses), and only got worse with each manifestation (undercooked hash-browns and filler material in several fajita mixes). The food can be simple, even pioneer-like, but don't send the message to the youth and leaders that they're not worth some quality and variety.
Allow the youth some time to act silly and have some down time to socialize. Overplanning their schedule and trying to enforce a continual level of seriousness can sour the experience for some youth who are eager for the social opportunities that come with youth conference.
Signed,
Anonymous...
