On Thursday Mom arrived with the camper to rescue us from Horseshoe Meadow, driving up the road from Lone Pine to reach us. After we retrieved my truck and trailer from Kennedy Meadows, where I had left it on Monday when I headed out, we drove south to Inyokern, where we spent the night with the Gordon's, a wonderful couple who let us stay there with the horses and park the camper in their driveway so we could get the horses shod the next day. On Friday morning, Shawn Stephey, a horseshoer we had the good luck to find by making some phone calls and getting some tips from Bishop Veterninary Clinic, came by to put new shoes on the horses. He also suggested that we add snowball pads to the front shoes in case we encountered any more snow (but frankly, I've seen enough to last me a long time!). It was Shawn who knew the Gordon's and asked them if we could stay there Thursday, and once again we were so touched by people's kindness. Then we left Inyokern and headed north towards Truckee, where another amazing person had opened her home and barn to us. Carol Pauli had contacted me a while earlier through the website and offered me a place to stay when I passed through the Tahoe area, but I never imagined I'd be taking her up on that favor so very soon! But thankfully she was able to take us in, and we drove north along the 395, passing the imposing rugged peaks of the Sierras all along the way. I was very glad that I had made the decision to detour, especially as I was beginning to hear from the couple of hikers ahead of me, who were coming out at Kearsarge Pass and reporting terrible conditions, with five foot drifts of snow and avalanche conditions and 70 mph winds at the top of Forrester. There is no way I could have handled that with the horses, and I really have no choice except to try to find an area with lower elevations and no snow where I can try to continue to complete sections of the trail while I wait for the snow to melt here.

#2014PCT