Other than the new shoes we got off to a bad start this morning. When we got all the way back out to the trail we realized that we'd forgotten Tina's trekking poles. So back we went to Mojave to get them -- 90+ miles is too far to go without them. Consequently, Tina got a late start on what was too have been a 24ish mostly uphill walk to the next water. Since it was also tough, slow, full-load climbing day she was only able to make about 19 miles before setting up a dry camp with just a liter or so of water left.
When I got back to Mojave for the second time I discovered that she'd also left her camp shoes. Arghh!! .. and this on top of the discovery a couple days ago that we have no idea where Tina's new (but broken in) boots are for the Sierras. Every family we spent time with on the way out from VA has searched their houses twice over and today I started calling the most likely of the hotels we stayed at on the way. Quite the problem since boots are a "should" item for the Sierras but they are also no place to march into with boots that haven't been broken in (should we go out and buy new ones). Hopefully they'll materialize in the next couple days.
Tomorrow Tina keeps hiking north (hopefully finding water early!) and I set out very early on the 60 mile ride to Ridgecrest, CA where it appears I will be based for some days.
To a better tomorrow! /David