Possibly the point here is not the sheer quantity but the inner attitude of the Pilgrim: the starets wishes to test his obedience and readiness to fulfil an appointed task without deviation.
The term caravan was used to describe groups of people who travelled together across the ancient network for safety reasons, such as merchants, travellers or pilgrims.
Somehow, the Pilgrims saw their dire situation as a demonstration of providential power, especially after a giant wave picked up the flimsy boat of a scouting party on a stormy December night.
Then wind your way to the top of the Pilgrim Monument, which rises above this outpost that has long been a haven for adventurers, artists, and freethinkers.
Even as thousands of intrepid settlers made their way across the Midwestern plains on the Oregon Trail, groups of Mormon pilgrims headed to another destination: Salt Lake City.