Ash Canyon Interloper Observations

[Ahatch]

So I took my best survivor to Ash Canyon on day 700ish and I know it's late in the run but I wanted to make some observations about the region since I have not played on anything other than Pilgrim previously. 

Weather: My survivor has good clothes maybe not the best but Deer skin pants (2 layers) deerskin boots, rabbit mitts and hat , wolf and bear coat and toque , just one set of underwear and ear wrap. But she is getting her health given a severe beating nothing close say for maybe Bleak Inlet. The wind is pretty crazy here as well as blizzards keep hitting every other day. So I almost died going to get some saplings at the mine (forgot my hacksaw the first trip)

Wolves: None up in the highlands but Anglers Hut area is crawling with them. Haven't tried fishing overnight at Bitter Marsh but I think I have to do a wolf cull in the area before I consider it. Killed 6 wolves near the Anglers Hut and had 4 more blocking the way to the rope climb towards Climbers Cave. 

Food: Lots of food actually , the bear at Miners Folly and a couple moose hanging around. Lots of cat tails, mushrooms and rose hips everywhere and the odd birch bark areas. 

Firewood: Anglers Hut is good for this though plenty scattered around the area and fir and cedar logs to cut close to the cabin. 

Loot / Other goodies: Lots of saplings , and 2 arrow heads in the drawer. Still need to forge knife or axe to think about getting a bow though.

Conclusion: For a starting region not the greatest , well unless they plop you near the gold mine but like my character it's not walk in the park no matter your skills and gear. 

[Dr. S.]

I've been there for about 20 in-game days on interloper, days 340 - 360. I agree with a lot of your observations, but I haven't had the same problem with the weather. (I have very similar clothes, but I have two underwear and combat pants under deerskin pants.) Weather and outdoor conditions seem pretty similar to TWM to me. I've been to the mine and back without problem a couple of times.

One thing I really noticed is that there are *way* more outdoor warm-up caves than I thought from touring the region on Voyageur. I've encountered five or six so far, and I haven't yet explored the entire region. There are two by Miner's Folly (the bear cave and one by the Foreman's Retreat), and there's another one close to the rope climb down to the mine entrance. I even spent the night in one without a fire. (Not sure exactly where it is, since my mental map of the region is still very incomplete. It's by the base of one of the rope climbs that take you to the High Meadow.)

[Ahatch]

You are correct I noticed the one warm up cave you mentioned on the way back from the gold mine . I had spent the night in the other cave with a fire going all night. I plan on crossing the other rope bridge near the Miners Folley to get into the Climbers Cave area and do some rabbit snaring at some point. Miners Folley is a nice area but is kind of far away from everything. I can hunt deer here but if I want to snare rabbits I have to cross rope bridges to go check them. I found an extra rope so I think there is a rope I can deploy to bring me closer to the Anglers Hut so I can avoid wolf central. 

[Ahatch]

Well I have a new interloper run on the go and 33 days so far on Ash Canyon. This survivor not as upgraded as last one and no Bearskin bedroll. Anyway some more observations from the run. I did try to spend a good night fishing on Bitter Marsh. I took all the coal from the coal mine and stuck in the box at the fishing hut. The plan is to use 1 coal and then sticks in each fire I plan to build. This run I lucked out and got two boxes of matches at the Anglers Den. The fishing is not as good as other places I must say as I was catching all small white fish and only small bass (just caught the one). I have been cleaning up the wolves utilizing a couple trees for safe shooting with the bow (not level 5). I have done ok but I have avoided the narrow ravine with the 4 wolves . I would like to make it down there as there is some resources to be had so may have to goat down to a perch somewhere to deal with the wolves. I have been getting the cabin fever warning a lot so it's forced me back to  Miners Folley for some crafting outdoors and sleeping in the barn. The one day I killed a couple wolves from the log near the falls and went to get the arrow from the second one. I had to walk all the back to Bitter Marsh where it died. I was exhausted pretty much on the way back to the Anglers Den and was walking into a head wind when I got hypothermia just near safety. 

[Riotintheair]

I've used the small 2-way cave with a warmth bonus right next to the Foreman's Retreat for outdoor activities without a fire when staying in the Miner's Folly area - it had a warmth bonus even before the patch added them to most caves. It's great for mending, reading, crafting that doesn't require a bench, and generally hanging out during the daytime/evening. It's on the left as one approaches the cabin from Miner's Folly proper. It's the place I've hung out if I need to avoid cabin fever and don't want to light a fire, but I don't think the warmth bonus is sufficient that I'd recommend sleeping there in Interloper during the night without a fire (I've not ever needed to try it, and I suspect now that most big caves have the proper temperature bonuses I never will). Granted the bear cave could serve the same purpose, but it's further away and full of bones.

[Ahatch]

Behind the work bench in that little room is a warm area , I didn't need to go to the cave. But remember I have good cloths so maybe with starter cloths it might be too cold. 

[Serenity]

1 hour ago, Ahatch said:

Behind the work bench in that little room is a warm area , I didn't need to go to the cave. But remember I have good cloths so maybe with starter cloths it might be too cold. 

Yeah, with high end clothing it can be just warm enough even during a blizzard. Pretty weird. You can even reach the workbench while you're warm

Caves in general are warm in the back now though so things became a lot easier. At Angler's Den the Narrow Falls cave is a good choice to sleep at night. You can also spend a while at the fire barrel cooking water. At Miner's Folly there is a cave past the bridge - and you need to visit that area anyways for collecting sticks. So you can pick up some wood and maybe trap some bunnies, then spend the night there and return in the morning.

 

As for the Angler's Den wolves. Long term you probably only need to kill the two between that area and Bitter Marsh. The others will leave you alone unless you're carrying meat. And the ones guarding the indoor cave only need to killed once as you make your way up (and even that can be optional).

Edited January 26, 2021 by Serenity

[Dr. S.]

Now that the caves are warm, I like the Stone Shelf cave as a base of operations. Deer spawn out front, nearby moose spawn, and lots of wood and birch bark around. It’s also reasonably close to most things, at least for Ash Canyon. 

[Ahatch]

I'd go hang out there but so many wolves blocking the way to that part of the map. Just have to go the long way around by Climbers Cave. I take so much cold damage though just to get there  

[Ahatch]

Well @Dr. S.I did make it over to Stone Shelf Cave got myself a deer right away then a moose soon after. It is a pretty good spot just not sure my route back out to a work bench with my moose hide. Would like to get the satchel before heading back to Timberwolf mountain as I want to make a bid for the Summit when I get back out. 

[Ahatch]

Just hit 50 days on Ash Canyon plan is to get the moose hide satchel then make a bid for the Summit of Timberwolf Mountain .  

[stratvox]

On 1/13/2021 at 8:58 AM, Dr. S. said:

One thing I really noticed is that there are *way* more outdoor warm-up caves than I thought from touring the region on Voyageur. I've encountered five or six so far, and I haven't yet explored the entire region.

The caves were changed in the last patch: "[Enviro] Updated caves in Ash Canyon to count as interiors when curing items." It makes living there much much easier. When I first ran through the region, all those caves were exterior only. I was wondering if they intended to change that or not, turned out they did. I'd love to know the backstory on the change... was it an idea to make the caves in AC different and harder that got rolled back due to negative feedback, or... what?

On 1/26/2021 at 9:49 AM, Dr. S. said:

Now that the caves are warm, I like the Stone Shelf cave as a base of operations.

Haven't run that yet but I'm sure you're right.

55 minutes ago, Ahatch said:

Just hit 50 days on Ash Canyon plan is to get the moose hide satchel then make a bid for the Summit of Timberwolf Mountain .  

I'm doing that on my current run, but really taking my time. Getting up to the summit is a lot easier when you enter TWM from the deer clearing and have the crampons and technical backpack. I'm now hanging out at Mountaineers and waiting until I get enough together to get the bearskin bedroll, and then it's going to be time to move on. I'm thinking I might make a cloth run to CH and a forge run to either FM or DP, and then maybe go to HRV to camp there for a while away from the detritus of human civilisation, or come back to TWM and AC, which are an incredible one-two combo of regions. Starting in AC so you can hit the gold mine and get those two things to take with you up to the summit in twm to score fat lute is a really good way to get off the ground and into the middle game.

[Ahatch]

1 hour ago, stratvox said:

Getting up to the summit is a lot easier when you enter TWM from the deer clearing and have the crampons and technical backpack.

That's the exact plan I'm going to the cave that leads to deer clearing then make my way up to the summit. Loot then goat down from there to the Mountaineers Hut. Will stick around Timberwolf Mountain then work my way back to Mystery Lake. Not going to get ahead of myself this time. Want to spend 50 days in each region on this run but always mess it up before I complete it. 

[Ahatch]

So I made it up to the Summit and back at Mountaineers Hut for a 50 day stay on Timberwolf Mountain. Left a fair amount of loot in Ash Canyon though so a small loot run might be in the works once I get settled in here. I explored Ash Canyon completely and find the map very nice overall. I would say on Interloper it has a lot of 4 wolf packs blocking key exits to the upper regions but by eliminating the small 2 wolf patrols between Anglers Den and Miners Retreat one can manage rather safely on the map overall. I find the map a little less confusing than Hushed River Valley once I got to know it and it terms of size it takes a fair amount of time to cross from Miners Folley to the Deer Clearing Cave. I ate the last couple chunks of bear meat and the old bear had respawned again so without a doubt one could spend a very long time on this map. Every time my cabin fever warning was over 50% I just went to the water fall cave or the burnt fishing hut to deal with it. 

[stratvox]

On 2/1/2021 at 10:37 PM, Ahatch said:

Head's up... the pic's busted. 

Yeah, AC should be very long term survivable at Miner's Folly thanks to the bear. It also looks like the stone shelf cave has real potential, but the moose that spawns there has to be a lot less reliable than bears tend to be for showing up in time to keep you in food. I've found a complete paucity of wildlife on the plateau around the Climber's Cave which is a real shame; that place looks like it should be a fantastic place to plunk down but the complete lack of wildlife there makes it a total non-starter, more's the pity. 

The one mesa that you can reach over the runaway bridge and the fallen log bridge with the little tiny cave with the sheltered spot for a fire and a pine bough bed look really tempting but it's just too far away to find food for it to be viable... which is too bad because the view when you wake up in that little alcove is freakin' amazing.

[Ahatch]

The screenshot might have timed out on upload , I have crappy internet.

Yes I did moved the rope from the one side of the bridge to the other and climbed down to the area around Climbers Cave. Like you said other than the deer carcus spawn there is only rabbits to snare. What really is too bad that there is no rope climb down to Anglers Den. Instead you have to goat down there and then take the long way back around by the Miners Retreat --> High Meadow. I stayed a total of 63 days on Ash Canyon the most of any region for this survivor run. I think I could have stayed a lot longer but started to get bored so time to move on.