Mosiah 24:8-25 (about 120 B.C.)

While still in bondage to the Lamanites, Alma prepared his people, under the direction of the Lord, to escape from the city of Helam and travel north to the land of Zarahemla. The people “in the night-time gathered their flocks together, and also of their grain; yea, even all the night-time were they gathering their flocks together” (Mosiah 24:18). In the morning, and while “the Lord caused a deep sleep to come upon the Lamanites,” the people of Alma “departed into the wilderness; and when they had traveled all day they pitched their tents in a valley, and they called the valley Alma, because he led their way in the wilderness” (Mosiah 24:19-20).

Once the guards became aware of the escape, they pursued the fleeing people of Alma. But the Lord warned Alma of the approaching Lamanites, and “they departed out of the valley, and took their journey into the wilderness” (Mosiah 24:24). “And after they had been in the wilderness twelve days they arrived in the land of Zarahemla,” where they were welcomed by king Mosiah (the second) “with joy” (Mosiah 24:25).

This divinely-led escape provides a number of possible insights into their selection of a travel route. The people of Alma would have had to follow a route that avoided the Lamanites located on the western side of the narrow strip of wilderness. Alma also would have most likely avoided the route to the land of Amulon occupied by the priests of king Noah, which was probably north, suggesting that their best option was to travel eastward to the coast and then northward along an eastern coastal route. Under the direction of the Lord, Alma’s people would have known the best travel route for food, grazing and water, including where to cross the mountainous divide into the land of Zarahemla, unlike the unsuccessful search party that king Limhi had previously sent along the same eastern route to find the same land (Mosiah 21:26.

As we have noted, the travel time from the land of Helam to the land of Zarahemla was thirteen days (Mosiah 24:20, 24-25). Combined with the eight days that Alma originally traveled from the land of Nephi to the land of Helam (Mosiah 23:3), results in a total travel time of 21 days from the land of Nephi to the land of Zarahemla. Alma’s group consisted of hundreds of people of all ages and all their flocks and herds and belongings. This would require a slow travel speed of approximately 8-10 miles per day through rugged terrain. This yields an approximate distance of 200 miles from the land of Nephi to the land of Zarahemla, through the narrow strip of wilderness from south to north. This journey matches the corresponding distances and travel routes within the narrow strip of wilderness in Baja California.