As planned, we took a rest day on Sunday, and on Monday I rode a section of the Crater Lake area south towards the Sky Lakes Wilderness section where I got stopped on Friday, but I did so with rain and snow. And then things worsened as a snow storm came in overnight. I tried to ride the Sky Lakes section on Tuesday morning, but only got about three miles before I made the decision to turn around. The people at the packing station where we had stabled the horses had warned me that there was still a lot of snow above 6000 ft, and they weren't kidding. With continued cold weather and more snow coming down, we had to admit defeat; we decided to try going south to cover some of the ground we had skipped in May when there were snow issues in the Sierras. We called my guardian angel Carol Pauli in Truckee, who once again came to my rescue (even with so little notice!) and agreed to take us in. So we loaded the horses and headed south, hoping for better weather and better trail conditions. It's been hard to face the fact that we can't make any progress, and it's frustrating and discouraging at times. I feel the pressure of a looming deadline and the fact that neither Mother Nature nor the PCT give a fig for my schedule or my plans or my dreams. It's a humbling situation, that's for sure . . .

#2014PCT