In an attempt to beat the flood of fortune seekers headed to California on rumors of "rivers of gold", your small team employing the skills of a native American guide and his fortuitously found old friend (a local to these mountains), has decided to push on in the dead of winter.  You all were lucky to make it to the small town of Highwater given the ferocity of the weather and the conditions of the trail. 

But then maybe "lucky" isn't the right word...