Passage of time

I have often wondered about the timeline of the Nephites in the land of Lehi-Nephi especially after the time of Zeniff. I realized tonight that the fact that Limhi and his people could mistake the search party from Zerahemla for the priests of Noah is evidence that they had been several years (I’d say at least 5 but it could just as easily have been 15) since they had seen those priests.