A New Day... Another New Beginning

[piddy3825]

@ManicManiac,

an interesting dilemma!  I love the guantlets when I can find the early in game as they really provide excellent all around protection.  But seeing how you regularly snare rabbits and have probably built up a massive surplus of rabbit pelts I'd go with rabbitskin mittens for their superior warmth and overal ease of maintenance.  So much easier to carry around a couple of light weight pelts and cured gut than to dry to find cured leather or break down shoes in order to repair the guantlets.  Same goes for the rabbitskin hat.  best headwear in the game dontch'a think?
 

[ManicManiac]

The next morning, I was able to work my way up to Signal Hill.  While I did find another Revolver and a decent amount of ammunition, I found that the rest of the gear was in short supply.  There was a bit more found-food and an extra Fire Striker for me to take with me... but not much at all in the way of clothing.   I ended up spending the night there and made my way back in early hours of the morning.  I was pretty well encumbered, so the going was slow.  I ended up half frozen to death by the time I made it back to the Pleasant Valley Farmstead.  I harvested up the two rabbits I found in the snares, and went about the task of getting the gear and supplies sorted.

Early the next morning, I decided I would make the Pleasant Valley Farmstead another primary encampment site.  Seeing that I have a work bench in the basement, and a reasonably safe location nearby for the snares... it seemed like it would be a good idea to haul my pelts and cured gut from the Community Hall.  I processed another rabbit that I'd found caught in my snare (the other had been ruined unfortunately).  The weather was dreadful, but it held up fairly well.  I was able to get a good amount of mapping accomplished along the length of the road all the way to Thompson's Crossing.  I cooked up the rabbit meat that I had previously left behind, and gathered up all the pelts and things for the trip back.

The next morning, I had to wait out another blizzard... however, once that lifted it was a rather peaceful trip back to the Pleasant Valley Farmstead.  Just as I was getting past the small barn and making my way down the driveway to the Farmstead home, another blizzard hit.  I spent what time I could in the shed just outside, but eventually had to take shelter to keep from freezing.  

 

The weather made it a tense couple of days, but all-in-all... it has been a good trip.  I will want to start getting out to the fringes and really start mapping in earnest.  I need to remember to fix my snare (maybe even craft one extra for a total of 3).  That will certainly take care of food needs... I'm still undecided if I'm going to invest the time to make rabbitskin mitts.  I know I will sooner or later, but I suppose I'll stick with the gauntlets awhile.  I think by the time they get worn out, I will just harvest and replace them with Rabbitskin rather than spend leather to fix them up.  

I think that's how I'll handle that for now.  

[ManicManiac]

I had to wait out another blizzard (which ate up more than half the day), but once that blew over I able to map a good portion of the field surrounding the Pleasant Valley Outbuildings.  It also afforded me the opportunity to distribute some of my gear between the basement of the Pleasant Valley Farmstead and the Old Red Barn (there amongst the Outbuildings).  Now both places would have a more or less even distribution of the tools I've collected in this half of the region.  Eventually I will want to sort through what I left behind at the Community Hall.  I have a complete set of standard and quality tools in the basement of the Farmstead, and a set of quality tools (as well as a hacksaw) set up at the Old Red Barn.

I figured this way... I have reasonably safe access to the work bench and tools from the Community Hall.
and... I have reasonably safe access to the snares (and by their virtue... food) from the Pleasant Vally Farmstead's main house.  I rather like this set up because no matter which of the two locations I stop over at, I have a reasonably safe way to get at just about everything I could need for however long I be inclined to stay. 

I decided to dedicate the next day to mapping and building up a good supply of sticks.  However, mapping proved to be impossible as a dense fog shrouded the entire valley nearly the entire day.  At one point, I decided to head back to the Farmstead to craft that third snare I'd been thinking about... but as I approached, I could hear a bear shuffling along through the fog.  I absolutely could not see it... but I could hear it clearly just the same.  I quickly got low, slowly and carefully trying to make my way forward.  I tried to judge where it was relative to me by sound, while straining to keep my bearings based on what little I could make out in the thick fog ahead.  The truly unnerving part was that if at any time I were to get a visual of the bear... I knew it would likely be too late for escape.  The fog was that opaque...

It was a tense few minutes, but eventually I could make out the outline of the porch just a head... and the growls and shuffling sounds of the bear's footsteps were fading into the distance.  I made it, and I was thrilled to be inside.  

I crafted up my third snare, and slowly found my way through the fog back to the small barn out by the road.  I set up my snare alongside the other two (which had both managed a good catch).  I took the rabbits inside the barn, harvested, and cooked for the next couple days' worth of rationing.  The two snares would have been sufficient, but I would like to be able to make more lengthy trips and stay out and about for a lot longer... and to do that, I decided I would need to build up food stores a bit quicker.  The extra profit from a third snare, I figured, would be a decent enough boost without easing the rest of the struggle too much.

The Pleasant Valley weather is doing a great job of reminding me who's really the boss here on Great Bear Island.  

[twyn1]

Oh yes! Pleasant Valley weather has thwarted many of the plans I'd made before heading off to bed for a nice winter's nap.

I would def plan to keep the gauntlets for now, but prep/make up rabbit-skin mittens when there's extra time here and there.

I had the bear/fog scenario in my recent challenge run, and it is very unsettling. It was in FM (not my favorite place in any way) and I got turned around trying to sneak away and almost plunged myself through the ice. Thank goodness I came upon a landmark I recognized and managed to get to relative safety.

[ManicManiac]

The weather has been really rough lately, seeming to be threatening a blizzard at any moment (but I suppose that's just Pleasant Valley being it's charming self ).  I still had a bit of cabin fever risk to contend with, so I decided to at least take a walk down to the Long Curve and map as much as I could along way.  I had to be careful not to survey too much for the first part of the day due to deep cold and high winds.

The going was slow, I was fighting a rather strong headwind every step of the way.  I did stay from the road near the far side of the orchard to pick up sticks.  As I got closer to the river (while keeping a keen eye for wolves), I found a frozen corpse (I was surprised it hadn't despawned on me).  The poor unfortunate soul left me a Wool Toque and a Hatchet, but all he had in his pockets was a tinder plug.

I eventually made it to the long curve and mapped it out to the end of the road.  The broken down car on the side of the road didn't yield much to speak of (just a candy bar and nothing in the trunk).  However, this was the first car I've come across that had a battery.  I didn't really have the carrying capacity to lug it back with me... so I left on the side of the road just behind the car (I'll bring a hacksaw with me next time to collect some lead).  Near the far end of the bend, I found another unfortunate soul... this one left me a really nice torch (but had empty pockets and an backpack).

By this time, it was starting to get dark... and with the heavy snow fall, it got rather dark alarmingly fast.  I had spotted some wolves on the river earlier that day, so I ended up trudging through the snow on the far side of the road until I made it closer to the orchard.  I wasn't able to see very far a head, so I had to focus on listening carefully for the sound of paws in snow.  Since it was already past nightfall, I was worried about wolves trying to sneak up on me (I'd learned the hard way in the past that wolves that wolves' detection radius increases after dark and will start tracing prey from a greater distance).

Thankfully, I was able to make it back to the Small Barn to eat and bed down for the night.

Blizzard hit, but thankfully subsided before I got up.  I took a quiet down day to fix up my revolver while sitting on the porch in front of the house, and then just a bit of mapping while I tried to find more sticks in the area.  The snares are working well... even though one of them broke not long after I'd set my third (because of course it would), so I did spend a half hour in the basement crafting up another one.

I'm thinking about heading towards Three Strikes Farmstead.  I might try to do a little bit of cave living over there.  I've been doing well at shaking off Cabin Fever Risk, but it might be good to spend a few days in a cave to clear the slate on my "indoor" dwell time.  

While I'm back that way, I might head back up to check on the airplane wreckage.  I do still have that deer pelt and venison I'd left behind at the Burned Ridge Cave.

Edited February 18, 2022 by ManicManiac

[twyn1]

I like that little cave at "Three Strikes" -- it's easy to find, with lots of sticks, tree limbs and rabbits/deer in the area. You can grab the mushrooms and rose hips if you don't have any in inventory.

(*sometimes I will drink rose hip tea when I don't need it, just because its so pretty)

You may even find a book to read, if you're bored 🙂 And there can be Prepper's Caches around too.

Not sure about the wolves there on the tougher levels, I know there's usually at least one or two skulking around the field across the bridge.

Edited February 19, 2022 by twyn1
spelling/grammar

[ManicManiac]

I had to hold off on the trip to the Three Strikes Farmstead for another day (due to blizzard), but the following day I was able to make the rip without issue.  I spotted a bear ambling around in a clearing not far from the small shed just ahead of the bridge leading to Three Strikes (not a threat right now, but I did take note for the future).

I quickly mapped and searched around the farmstead.  So far, it looks like a good set up.  There is a rabbit grove in the small orchard nearby.  The only issue to be cautious of became quickly apparent.  I spotted at least two wolves skulking on the hillside behind the orchard.  I decided to check on the cave, and more to the point of the trip... check for a possible Prepper Cache.  As fortune would have it, this was indeed where the cache was tucked away (just a little ways past the cave and back near the river).  This find was really great... and would soon prove really useful.

In the farmstead shed, I did find another sleeping bag, a fire starting skill book, as well as a rifle (in fairly decent condition).  In the prepper cache I found yet another snare, and I decided it was time to get those set.  Staying in the cave would mean that the snares will be less effective, but the plan will be to hop into the prepper cache as soon as I get up in the morning (which will hopefully trigger the snares and prompting a check).  As I was setting up the snares and looking at the wolves patrolling around in the distance, I knew they could be a potential problem when it comes to gathering up the rabbits for my food supply.  I'll either have to be very careful... or spend some ammunition to defend my catch.

I spent the remainder of the day gathering up as many sticks as I could find.  My hope is be able to gather enough for 12 hours of burn time.  Partially for cooking and water... but more importantly to keep warm should the temperature drop too.  I still don't have all the optimal clothing layers yet, and some of my clothes could stand some repair... so on the colder days I know I still can't tank the cold even in the back of the cave.

For the first night in the cave, I'd have to go without food... but I have a good chance to have four rabbits in the morning.  I ended up sleeping 10 solid hours... which was admittedly risky (I hadn't really intended to, but it a force of habit).  Fortunately the weather held, but by the time I woke I was already a little bit cold.  Yeah, my current clothing is not yet good enough to keep me warm in the cave during the colder mornings.  This was a pretty valuable wake up call... if a blizzard had hit overnight, there was a good chance I could have woke up freezing (maybe even not wake up at all).  I got lucky, and I don't plan on making that mistake again... we rarely get second chances on Great Bear Island.

I didn't bother checking the snares right away.  Instead, I went straight to the prepper cache.  I spent a few minutes to recover a little bit of warmth, but quickly went back out to check on the snares (now that I had triggered an indoor/outdoor transition).  When I got the small orchard, I found I had three rabbits and one snare ruined... not bad.

I reset my snares, and left the rabbits untouched until I was ready to head back towards the cave.  Sure enough, as soon as I picked up the rabbits the wolves immediately caught my scent.  I sprinted for the cave, got to the back, got low, and dropped rabbits.  The howling was frighteningly close, and I could hear their footsteps just outside.  I took the chance to harvest the hide and gut (while leaving the rabbits there on the floor of the cave).  I got two of them done, when I spotted a wolves sniffing around past the opening of the cave.  I dropped the two hides and gut I'd harvested and sat there very tense with a stone in hand... 

Thankfully the wolf passed by without tracking me inside.  I knew this was going to be a bit too dangerous to keep harvesting with the wolves now so close to my cave.  I've learned from past experience that wolves are not shy about running into caves to chew on me if they are already stalking/charging.  I passed about an hour of time (hoping they would wander off a little farther away), and then quickly gathered up the rabbits and retreated to the prepper cache.  I didn't hear any growling, but I knew they likely had my scent and were headed my way.  After getting inside the cache, I wasted no time in finishing my harvest of the rabbits.  This took a decent enough time that I felt good enough about trying to get back to the caves before wolves got close enough to start stalking me.

I must have gauged the risk well.  I was able to get to the cave, get low, and drop all the harvested rabbit bits in the back of the cave without hearing any snarling.  However, after a minute or so I did hear wolf footsteps in the snow outside.  Again I sat very still listening to each footfall with stones in hand... but thankfully, they must have lost my scent.  I kept still for little while until the howls sounded a little farther away, then I carefully went out for more sticks.  It had taken a little while, but the wolves had returned to their territory on the hillside.  I decided to collect up the snares.  I knew I had enough meat for at least a couple of nights, and this back & forth is admittedly a bit risky... so I'm not keen on repeating it unless absolutely necessary.

That second evening, I got a decent supply of water built up (thanks to the cooking pot I did end up bringing along with me).  I use the other spot at the campfire to cook up my rabbit meat.  I don't quite have enough fire wood to keep the fire going through the entire night... but by taking short naps, I was able to have a very healthy water supply.  By the time the fire went out and finding the bedroll wouldn't be enough to keep warm, I decided to tough it out as long as I could before going to the Prepper Cache to warm up.

I do have enough to survive for a few days here, but by then I will either have to move on towards Burned Ridge Cave or commit to the risk by setting up the snares in the orchard again.  

The wolves do present a challenge to a more lengthy stay (unless I actually start using the revolver or rifle - and I'm not likely to do so for as long as I can evade and avoid).  Even though I was able to catch and harvest rabbits without getting into a wolf struggle, I'm not sure it would be wise to press my luck.  All it would take is for them to get close enough to go from tracking to stalking and the situation could potentially end with me getting mauled by wolves.  So far, I've had a good track record for successfully evading and avoiding hostile wildlife attacks.   I would like to maintain that for as long as possible.  

Edited February 21, 2022 by ManicManiac

[ManicManiac]

I'm torn between staying here at the cave near Three Strikes until my carefully rationed rabbit meat runs out, and leaving the meat behind for a future emergency in favor of getting to Burned Ridge Cave in order to start searching the plane wreckage.

Either way, I will get over to the crash site... it's just a question of when.  I'll still have Burned Ridge Cave to live in (and another cave in the cliff face behind the crash site if needs be).  If I stay at burned ridge cave, I suppose I can still make good use of the snares by either taking the short hike to Draft Dodger's Cabin or (if the way is clear) the basement at Skeeter's Ridge... or just stay outside and make due with fewer catches.

 

(Minor metagame commentary obscured so folks don't have to see it if they don't want to)

I will admit that I do find it mildly irksome to have to keep in mind that I have to seek out an indoor/outdoor loading transition in order for the snares to work as (I assume) they are intended to.  Granted it's a relatively minor detail, and one that's been with us for a long time.  However, now that I have been sort of forcing myself to rely on the snares... having to constantly keep this work around in mind does kind of "take me out of it" a little bit.  This isn't a gripe (as I'm fairly certain it's a bug and not intended to be this way), but it is something that crosses my mind quite a bit during each session.  Since I'm chronicling the experience... I thought I would mention this one aspect as well. 

[ManicManiac]

I decided to spend another night in the cave near Three Strikes, but rather than stick close for a couple more days I decided to go onwards towards the Crash Site.  I got a fair bit of mapping done along the way, but I didn't have a lot of charcoal to work with.  I guess I underestimated the burn time of my fire, since it was still going to be burning for another 2 hours by the time I was ready to go.  Rather than just hang out and wait for it to extinguish, I just grabbed a torch and left it to burnout while I was gone (as a result I didn't get a chance to grab charcoal from that campfire - but I can always come back for it later).

As I crested the hill just before the cave (on the back path behind the Crash Site), I spotted a couple of wolves prowling along the hillside (one of which was heading down the slope in the direction I needed to go).  Rather than try to sneak past, I decided to get low and head for the cave itself.  I took the time to do a quick survey (hoping the wolf would wander off back up the hillside).  Instead, just as I was finishing the survey and looking at the map... I heard a rabbit scream.  Great... the wolf had picked up the scent of the rabbit and was right in the way of where I needed to go.  This was not ideal.

I tried to head onwards, giving the feeding wolf a wide berth.  However, much to my surprise it had finished off that rabbit surprisingly fast* and immediately began stalking me.  I knew there was a rabbit grove up ahead (just before getting to the Hunter's Blind), so I continued onward with the wolf closing in from behind.  As I passed the rabbit grove, the wolf did decide to take the easier meal.  This allowed me to double back.  I was able to sneak up the hillside past the other wolf that was skulking around the area.  I had reached the Crash Site.

I mapped a little bit more with the remains of my charcoal supply, and set about looking through baggage compartments, luggage, and picking up sticks.  My condition from the night before hadn't improved much (since I'd only rested in short 2 hour naps to maximize my water production), so I knew that missing a meal was not going to be a wise option.  Fortunately the two pieces of venison I'd gathered from the ravaged deer carcass that I'd left at the Burned Ridge Cave previously, would be enough to sustain me for another couple of days (three if I continued to press my luck).

That evening I'd gathered up enough sticks to keep a fire going for several hours.  However, when blizzard struck early the next morning.  I had to resort to using the two pieces of Cedar Firewood, I'd left there previously for emergency (not even the pine bough bed in the "warm" back-end of the cave was enough to keep me warm against the biting cold of the blizzard raging outside.  I didn't having to use up those emergency supplies... but this was certainly the kind of situation I'd stashed them here for.

Once the blizzard blew over, I finished collecting up what I could from the crash site.  I stashed all the found food items near the entrance, but opted to carry all the clothing with me.  Harvesting them would be a good way to pass time regardless of where I was, so carrying the extra weight for now seemed worth it.

Not sure how much longer I will stay at Burned Ridge Cave (maybe one more day, perhaps two).  I may head back to Three Strikes, I have at least one more night's worth of food to get by.  I suppose by now I don't really need to continue living in the caves...  It may not be a bad idea to set up a small encampment at Draft Dodger's Cabin.  There is a rabbit grove nearby and it's usually pretty quiet and readily accessible.  I think it would be a good stop-over location, since it's on the way to both Skeeter's Ridge and the Crash Site (including Burned Ridge Cave).

I've done okay with mapping some of the far reaches.  I have made good progress along the edges when I was following the back-paths.  I will have to make another trip at some point to clear the area (between the river and the back path... there are still some hill tops to visit).

I did also find a polaroid... so I'll also want to visit that vista location again when I can.  I wasn't in really good shape to map around that spot the last time I was up that way.

* (more detail on the event where the wolf devoured the rabbit with astonishing quickness)

 

This is another one of those times where I wish I had/knew about video capture capabilities...  I ran into a bit of a bug.  Apparently after the survey in the cave was completed, the wolf was "stuck" still moving at the accelerated speed of the survey action.  Apparently the wolf had caught the rabbit right at the tail end of the time compression event.  When I stepped out of the cave, I watched the wolf moving like a speedster for a few moments... then the wolf was suddenly finished eating, "reset" back to normal speed, and started stalking me.

Edited February 23, 2022 by ManicManiac

[piddy3825]

You know, I always enjoy reading your exploits.  It kinda reminds me of the short stories series that I'd find when reading thru copies of old magazines when we were stuck inside due to rain or bad weather when we would go and visit my grandparents. 
They had a collection of magazines like National Geographic, Reader's Digest and Field & Steam that my cousins and I would devour whenever  we'd go there to visit.  

You tell a good tale, @ManicManiac  Thanks!

[ManicManiac]

@piddy3825

Thank you.  I used to chronicle my runs with the in-game journal, but eventually decided to use the forums in order to share my experiences, pitfalls, and little victories with anyone who might like to read along.  I'm glad folks here are enjoying it.

[ManicManiac]

The next morning, I decided I would head down the path to Draft Dodger's Cabin.  I knew I was likely going to run out of water... but I resisted the urge to take any of the 4 liters that I'd intended to leave behind.  I figured it was a reasonably sure thing that I would find more sticks for a fire.  I hauled my pack (heavy with clothes found amongst the wreckage) down the path, carefully making my way across the fallen tree bridge, and on to Draft Dodger's Cabin.

The weather was threatening another blizzard, but that wasn't anything out of the ordinary for Pleasant Valley.  I set up my snares at the Rabbit Grove (not far from the bottom of the nearby rope climb).  I knew I wasn't likely to catch anything before nightfall, so I'd have to miss another meal tonight.  I was in reasonably good shape for now, but by tomorrow starvation was going to make things difficult... and dangerous.

Sure enough, another blizzard hit just before sundown.  It crept up fast while I was out gathering sticks.  Before I knew it, I was caught out in a whiteout storm raging at full fury.  I knew I wasn't far from the cabin, so I carefully tried to find my way back.  Fortunately, it was no trouble and I got back inside long before I started freezing.  I lamented my very low water supply... I barely had enough to get through the night.  The storm stymied any hope of getting any more water prepared.  This was not good.  Tomorrow, I'd not only be starving... but starting to die of thirst as well.

The storm finally abated, just a little before sunup.  I ventured out to find that three of the four snares had done their work.  Having three rabbits would be more than enough to get me feeling better.  However, I needed to be able to hold out long enough to get them harvested, get a fire going, and get at least one batch of water ready.  I was already feeling half-dead... this was cutting it close.   ...too close...  I should have brought that last hunk of venison, and I should have grabbed at least 1 liter of water before leaving Burned Ridge Cave.  I was so focused on leaving myself provisions for emergency, that I created the dire situation I found myself in now.  At least the area around Draft Dodger's Cabin is a fairly peaceful place.  All I'll have to struggle with, will be against time.

  

[ManicManiac]

It took more than three hours to harvest my rabbits by hand, and I had to battle the high winds to keep a fire going.  I was feeling very weak ( ~15% condition 😨), but I just had to hold on a little bit longer for water.

Stick by stick I kept the fire alive against the blistering wind.  The first batch of water started to boil and drank the first half-liter.  After I got the rabbit meat cooked (while the second batch of water was on), I decided now was time to use some of the crushed birch bark that I've kept in my "med kit."  I brewed up a few cups, but I didn't want to use too much of my new/limited supply of water.

I managed to crawl into bed, ate a hearty amount of rabbit meat, drank one cup of Birch Bark Tea, finished fully sating my thirst, and slept hard for about 10 hours.  When I woke, took a quick drink and napped for another 2 hours.

I managed to recover rather well, but it's a sobering reminder to pay close attention to immediate need first and not get too distracted trying to setup for things "further down the road."  I got a bit overconfident and underestimated the combined impact of thirst and starvation... a bit embarrassing that my closest brush with death was one hundred percent my own fault.   

After getting up, I quickly went outside to check my snares.  This time only one had managed to catch a rabbit.  This was fine, as I still had about 2 rabbits' worth of meat from yesterdays' harvest.  I did a little bit of mapping, but focused on gathering up sticks (a good chunk of time was spent on breaking down branches).  I decided to leave the snares in place.  I think I will stay at Draft Dodger's Cabin for a couple of days.  I'm still not quite feeling 100% and I think should spend a little more time building up water and food supplies.  There is close to 15 liters stashed over at the cave right by Three Strikes Farmstead.  I will likely try to make a quick trip back to gather some of that up (as well as grab the charcoal I had to leave behind).

In just about every run, it seems there is always at least one silly mistake I end up making that drives home how unforgiving Great Bear Island is... and in the last week or so, I've made two of them!

"Don't center on your anxieties... keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs."
- Qui-Gon Jinn

Edited February 24, 2022 by ManicManiac

[ManicManiac]

The last few days have been rather peaceful at Draft Dodger's Cabin.  I've not ventured out too far and just focused on gathering rabbits, sticks, and water.  I've recovered nicely and have built up those supplies to make this a good stopover encampment.  I would have left to do more mapping, maybe heading out further to fringes of the map I've not visited yet to see what I could find... but after my previous mistake, I've slowed down for a little while.  Taking time to regroup and mindfully prioritize more immediate needs ahead of any long-term plans.

Not a very adventurous couple of days, but I think necessary to remind myself to stay alert and careful.  I'm get ready to continue moving through the region.  I think I'd like to finish mapping the upper-shelf, perhaps stopping off at the Misty Falls Picnic Area.  That should be a good place to set up snares and use the cave for warmth... plus I'd just really like to visit that cave to see what's inside.  

[ManicManiac]

Real-life stuff was taking up nearly all of my spare time again recently... but planning getting back to Great Bear Island this weekend.

I've been able to gather up a decent supply of rabbit meat, but I'm not so healthy on my water supply.  However, I plan on fixing this by making the quickest trip I can back to the cave near Three Strikes Farmstead.  This will make the trek to get up to the Misty Falls Picnic Area significantly longer.  Depending on the weather, it will likely take the better part of a day just to reach the falls.

I'm looking forward to see if I can make the entire trek in one stretch.  Especially since there is a good chance I would have to take the long way past Point of Disagreement and up along the river leading to Misty Falls (there are at least three spots in that general area that I've spotted wolves prowling around).

Edited March 4, 2022 by ManicManiac

[ManicManiac]

The weather actually held up pretty nicely for Pleasant Valley.  Though I did have to start traveling in a dense fog, but this was okay... I just knew I'd have to keep a sharp ear out to try and get a fix on any wolves that might be prowling around near the river.  I figured I would stay on the river all they under the bridge leading to Three Strikes.  Once I made it there, I was able to coat my way up the bank and onward to my cave.  I could only really afford to carry 5 liters of the water I had stashed there.  There was at least 10 more but having 6 liters on hand would be more than enough get established at Misty Falls.

The fog cleared sometime by mid-afternoon, and by then I was on my way past Three Strikes.  I hadn't heard any wolves along the way down the river, so I decided to take the back path up and across the upper shelf.  This route would take me past hunter's blind, past the abandoned prepper cache, and onwards to the Misty Falls Picnic Area.

I approached with caution... with it being such a steep hill, I didn't want to get ambushed by a wolf.  However, the lack of close proximity howling made me reasonably confident that the way was clear.  Still though, I sprained a few things on the steeper slopes on the way here, and I didn't want to risk there just being an unusually quiet wolf just over the top of the hill.  I crouched and crept up the last few meters until I finally crested the hill.  Sure enough, the way was clear.  I quickly made my way down to gather up and map what I could in the area.

I set up my snares and went inside Misty Falls Cave.  Inside I found another bedroll and a few supplies.  This makes three bedrolls I was carrying in my pack right now.  Since the bedrolls break down into 10 pieces of cloth (weighing 1kg), I didn't bother harvesting the bedrolls (since the weight of the cloth produced equaled that of the intact bedroll).   I did also find a bow with a single arrow, and in the farther reaches of the cave (behind a waterfall)... I found another revolver, some revolver ammunition, and even a decent amount of lantern fuel.  There was also a couple of clothing items, but nothing that would increase my ability to keep warm.  I headed back to the front of the cave, and dropped off firewood, coal, a few found food items outside.  After getting my pack sorted out, I bedded down for the night.

Early the following morning, a blizzard hit.  I went out in the storm to check on the snares.  In case I didn't mention it earlier, I was down to three functional snares (the other two were ruined).  Even so, I managed to catch two rabbits.  I reset all three snares and quickly made my way inside to harvest.  After a couple hours of work, I put the meat outside and the rest I stashed on the floor of the cave to let them cure.

The storm is still raging after more than 12 hours.  If the blizzard doesn't blow itself out soon, I'm going to have to try and get a fire going in spite of it.  I absolutely need food tonight.  The good news is that there is enough of a protected area here by the mouth of the cave that I should be able to a campfire going without much trouble.  With the coal that I'd picked up inside, I certainly don't have to worry about staying warm.

The blizzard continued at full force for more than 18 hours now.
I'm just hoping it will blow over by morning... but if not, I have snares for food and a limitless supply of snow to boil up for water.

Even so...  I hope the storm clears, I'd rather not be pinned down here for too long.

[ManicManiac]

Thankfully the storm broke just a little before nightfall.  I got a decent fire going, but I only kept it going for one batch of water in the cooking pot and get the rabbit meat cooked up.  I ate and went to bed... and of course another blizzard hit.

I spent the better part of the morning harvesting the one rabbit that my remaining two snares managed to catch.  By the time I got the carcass stripped the storm had blown over.  I decided it was time to get going before another one hit.  I opted to head back to Skeeter's Ridge (where I did a little bit of mapping), then onwards to Draft Dodger's Cabin to warm for a bit, and then the long stretch to make it back to the Pleasant Valley Farmstead.

I unloaded my heavy pack (paring down to my bare essentials once again).  By then it was getting late, so I headed back out to the small barn to eat and sleep on one of the hay piles.  I was hoping the weather would be decent for the next morning, since I wanted to head back to Three Strikes to gather up more of the water reserves (and finally pick up the charcoal I keep forgetting there ).

I ended up sleeping in until mid-morning, but instead of a blizzard... there was another heavy opaque fog.  Traveling in this could be a tad dangerous... the route I wanted to take had the potential to cross paths with bears twice (near the Pleasant Valley Farmstead house, and later near the clearing on the way to the bridge leading to Three Strikes).  I harvested up the two rabbits caught in my snares (I had taken the time to fix up the other three ruined ones while I was getting my pack sorted back at the house).  Two out of five snares was fine... I had a decent supply there at the small PVF Barn anyway.  I was just thankful that none of the snares had turned up ruined. 

I left two snares behind at the small barn (mainly because traveling with three snares is enough... and of course lightens the pack a little bit).  I decided to stick to the snow-covered backroad as I made my way across the farmstead.  I could hear wolves on howling from both orchards, so I figured better to stick to the road until I get close to furthest out building before heading farther on towards the bridge to Three Strikes.

As I got closer to Three Strikes... I came upon some very large tracks in the snow, and just a few meters ahead I saw who they belonged to:

Keeping low, I slowly made my way past and onward to the cave near Three Strikes.  I picked up the charcoal (24 pieces were waiting for me there) and another 6 liters of water (leaving 4 liters behind for future stopovers).  I stopped by Prepper Cache to also pick up load of found-food to bring back to the Pleasant Valley Farmstead.  By this time the fog had finally lifted.

I mapped a little more near the waterfall closest to the Prepper Cache, and by that time the skies were clear (though it was getting rather late into the day).  I wanted to head back through the forest in a straighter shot back towards the Pleasant Valley Farmstead.  As I got close to the orchard towards the back of the house... I had to try and thread the needle between a bear and a small-ish pack of wolves.  I ended up attracting the attention of all three wolves but continued on towards the house anyway.  The bear on the other hand was just getting to the backroad (looking like perhaps it was going to either cross over to the other orchard or perhaps make a pass in front of the house).  I knew that if push came to shove... I could just trade threats.  If the wolves got too close, I could just step closer to the bear and the bear would scare them off.  However, then I would have to risk being too close and have to try to contend with a potential bear mauling.

I was able to get to the house without the wolves getting too close.  I spend a bit of time dropping off and organizing everything I'd hauled back with me.  I did pick up the rest of the excess clothing and moved out to the Small Barn.  I know I would probably be spending the night out there again and I wanted to be able to work on some mending while I was out there.  Early the next morning, I woke to another blizzard... so I spent the day in the small barn harvesting the excess clothing and getting my repairs done.  I did brave the storm for a few minutes to gather rabbits and reset the snares, but for the most part I just spent the day inside.  Just when I'd given up hope on getting out that day, the storm finally lifted, and after another hour or so I had clear skies.  I quickly got out my mag-lens for a little free fire.   

I'd finally decided to get a rabbitskin hat crafted.  There's not enough daylight to get it done... but if there's no blizzard again in the morning, I suppose I'll head to the basement and get my first animal pelt clothing item underway.

 

Edited March 5, 2022 by ManicManiac
You can see the bear in the second picture if you look closely... :)

[twyn1]

I can see the bear! 🐻 I feel like it's one of those "what number can you see?" color-blind tests!

You are very brave to venture out in such conditions with wolves and bears at all sides! Even knowing their typical patterns, I have still been surprised by a wolf or bear who has wandered off course! The worst is when you walk out of a building and run smack-dab into one that normally is not in the area! Maul!!

[ManicManiac]

Over the next two days... I've had to weather back-to-back blizzards, and in the little bit of time between blizzards I had to try and nurse a campfire to get more food and water prepared.  In order to get the rabbitskin hat crafted... I decided I would just strip down and tried to get to the house as quickly as I could (just to try and save a little wear and tear on my clothing).

Once the weather seemed like it was finally calming down, I decided to put the 33 pieces of charcoal I had on hand to good use.  I mapped my way back up to Signal Hill and cleared a good swath of the map from the vista location.  While I was up there, I hiked (mapping along the way) as far along the back trails I could while still allowing enough time to make it back to the Pleasant Valley Farmstead before dark.  I managed to get all the way to cave leading to Winding River before heading back.

After spending another night in the small barn at the Pleasant Valley Farmstead, I decided to finish mapping along the road and hillsides nearby all the way back to Thompson's Crossing.  I had to sneak around near a few wolf packs in order to get some mapping done, but I managed to go unnoticed.  At least until I was mapping around the Pleasant Valley Outbuildings (near the Old Red Barn).  I caught the attention of one of the wolves that was prowling nearby, and it followed hot on my trail until I managed to escape into the Church at Thompson's Crossing.

After waiting it out for an hour or so, I made my way back to the Community Hall.  I doubt I'll stay very long, but I did at least want to reorganize and see what I might want to haul back to Pleasant Valley Farmstead.

I think I will head to the End of the Road next... perhaps map my way back up to Misty Falls from that route.

[ManicManiac]

I'm starting to get anxious to move on, and I'd like to start beachcombing too.

I checked my Journal and it says I'm on day 68.  I suppose all things considered I've not been in Pleasant Valley for very long, but having to wait on the weather as much as I do here... almost makes it feel like I've been here for years.  

While I do genuinely enjoy the region, I guess I just have a little bit of wanderlust.  It's almost to the point of an internal conflict.  Part of me wants to stay and push to get the mapping done before I move on... the other part wants to drop all non-essentials and leave right now. 

I do have a growing number of skill books I should probably read.  Which is another good reason to stick around for now.  Especially since I don't have a desire to cart books with me from one region to another (with the exception of the occasional Adv.G.G.G.).  If I can get the route up to Misty Falls mapped via the End of the Road, then the area between the End of the Road and the Upper Falls, and finally from the Upper Falls to Pensive pond... I should finally be just about finished.  I don't know that I have enough charcoal for that large an area... but I am going to push to see how much of it I can cover each day.  However, if the going keeps going slow... I may just have to let go of my stubbornness and simply head out (saving the rest of this mapping task for later).

I suppose I'll just have to see what the next few days bring.   

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by ManicManiac

[ManicManiac]

Early the next morning I woke to find a blizzard raging outside.  Thankfully it blew itself out sometime late in the morning before noon.  I had decided I would try to keep pushing to get my mapping task done.  However, when I checked my pack, I found I only had 9 pieces of charcoal left.  Since I didn't have much to work with, I decided to stick close to Thompson's Crossing and map from the falls behind the Rural Store, back to the Cave nestled into the cliff wall, and all the way to the back road where it crests a steep hill leading back towards the Picnic Spot (not far from Pensive Pond).

However, first things first.  As soon as the storm lifted, I went out behind the Church to check my snares.  Two of three snares had done their work.  I quickly gathered up the traps and my two rabbits and started to make my way back to the Community Hall to harvest.  As I walked past the little picnic area near the church, I spotted a wolf that was sort of trotting its way down the bank from the far side of the river.  It definitely had my scent and was making a beeline in my direction.  I sprinted in between a couple of the small houses trying to make haste for the backdoor of the Community Hall when I heard the sound a deer struggling and falling hard to the ground.

There was no way I was going to pass up this fortunate of a gift.  I quickly dropped the rabbits just inside the doorway inside the Community Hall, and went directly back outside with stone in hand.  I managed to drive the wolf off it's kill and gave it some time to wander back across the river and out of site before harvesting the deer.  It was quite a windfall, I came away with a little more than 8.5 kg of venison (along with the gut and pelt).  I dropped off the meat outside the backdoor of the Community Center, dropped off everything else inside, and harvested up my two rabbits.

After getting all that situated, I set out to get my mapping done for the day.  I did have a solitary wolf to navigate around, but that didn't pose any problems.  I stuck to the high ground, doing a little more goating that I was planning on... but the results were worth it.  With only my 9 pieces of charcoal I managed to get the whole area between the falls and the steep hill on the back road mapped pretty cleanly.  I even found my way back to the neat little out of the way place that I'd posted about in another thread.   

 

Here's my favorite view from my admittedly risky bit of goating around by the falls.

A little farther back... I found my neat little out of the way place again.

For those wondering where to find it... here is the clue I'll leave showing the path I took to get there.

By the time I was finished, it was getting a bit late in the day.  I decided to head down the backroad, and onto the main road.  I decided I would hike back to the Pleasant Valley Farmstead to stay the night.  Along the way gathering up every stick I could find.  I was going to need to do a bit of a long burn for more charcoal (and more water would not go unappreciated either).  By the time I got within visual range of the small barn at the edge of the farmstead, the fog had lifted.  If I could make it back to the house in time, I could use my maglens for some "free" fire.

I set my snares near the small barn and took the risk of carrying three pieces of cooked rabbit meat with me to the house.  Thankfully, there was still clear skies and plenty of daylight left to get a fire going (without having to use a match).  However, soon after I got the fire going in the fire barrel, a light snow fall had started.  I'd made it just in time.  I put all 60+ sticks I'd gathered into the fire and sat down next to the barrel tending to my two cooking pots.  It didn't take long for the snow fall to get heavier.  A hefty wind kicked up as well, and at that point was a more of a snowstorm (though not quite a blizzard... yet).

I got two batches of water done before I decided to make my way inside.  Tonight I was going to sleep in a proper bed (rather than sleeping in the hay piles in the small barn).  It didn't take much longer for the weather to take a turn for the worse, but by then I was wrapped up cozy in the bed up stairs.

Tomorrow, I think I'll gather up what charcoal I can from the fire and see if I can get to Pensive Pond.  Hopefully, I can get the entire stretch of the backroad finished (though I'm not sure I will have quite enough charcoal for that).  I'm glad I decided to stay for now.  All-in-all it was a good day.

Edited March 10, 2022 by ManicManiac

[ManicManiac]

The next morning I discovered that the Deer that I'd spooked on my way between the Pleasant Valley Farmstead's Small Barn and Main House got itself killed by a wolf at some point.  The wolves where still nearby in the orchard... but the deer was felled just across the driveway on top of the snowbank.  While it's a reasonable distance from the wolves to harvest.  I would certainly need to be careful, as the wolves were almost guaranteed to catch my scent and start hunting for me.  However, just like the gift I received at Thompson's Crossing... I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity.  Carefully metered out, that venison could easily sustain me for a week.    

The process did burn up most of the day, and the rabbits that I'd caught added to my harvest time by a fair amount.  I wasn't going to get any mapping done that day... but it was worth it to have a pretty healthy food supply.  I'm also going to have to focus on building up my supply of sticks again.  I'm going to need more charcoal if I'm going to be able to get the mapping task completed.  

There wasn't much going on, it's been a pretty quiet day.  I did get the opportunity to get a fire going outside at the burn barrel again (thanks to clear skies).  I put the last of my reserves of sticks (I found I had stashed 66 sticks in a cabinet inside the house), but I just let the fire burn while I took care of harvesting, spent time inside organizing gear and supplies, and eventually went back to the small barn to get some sleep.

Nothing too adventurous today... but still, I think a necessary use of a day.

[ManicManiac]

It took about two days, but I got the rather large area encompassing everything between the Winding River Cave to the Falls behind/above the Rural Store (and all the way forward to the main road) mapped out.  There are one or two smudges to tidy up, but considering the relatively small amount of charcoal I had access to I think I did pretty well at making the most of each survey.  Early each morning, I would start by starting a fire and heaping on all the sticks I was able to collect the day prior, then would head out for the day to get as much of the unmapped areas traversed and surveyed.

While there were a considerable number of wolves out and about, I was pleasantly surprised to find that for the most part they weren't prowling around in the areas I'd picked out as more ideal survey vantage points.  By the second day the wind was bitter cold.  I ended up freezing for a bit on more than one occasion, I decided to tough it out as much as I could... but of course eventually had to seek shelter to warm up.  This slowed progress down... but despite that I still managed to get the area finished.

I generally don't like to just let sticks burn without using it for cooking food or preparing water... but for the time being, the need for a more readily available supply of charcoal (for me) makes it worth the "waste."

[piddy3825]

52 minutes ago, ManicManiac said:

... the need for a more readily available supply of charcoal...

Just curious,  how many charcoal pieces have you gone thru so far?  And how many pieces do you typically carry on any given day of mapping?
How many pieces do you estimate that you will need to thoroughly map the entire island?

[ManicManiac]

@piddy3825

How many pieces of charcoal so far?   Honestly I haven't kept track.  I can't even guess how much I've use during the run to this point... probably quite a bit.    However, over the last two game-days I've been burning about 60+ sticks in the morning and let it burn through the day while I was out.  By the time I would come back to collect... it generally yielded 11-12 charcoal (with the fire starting bonus for level 3 applied). 

It's an interesting little mini-challenge to try and gauge the effective range of each survey (as it seems to change a bit with elevation/terrain features/visibility taken into account) to be able to get the most out each piece of charcoal.

I'd already managed to clear a decent amount of Timberwolf Mountain before I left (probably easily used 100 or more for that)... and I'm nearly finished with Pleasant Valley now. 

 

Here's the progress I have so far... I'm happy with Timberwolf Mountain's map, but there's more to go on for Pleasant Valley.  I still need to get from Falls on the other side of the river to the End of the Road, and then up edge back to Misty Falls.  As well as some more work along the river following the edge towards The Long Curve.  Then just a couple of small smudges to tidy up... then I should be set to move on to Coastal Highway:

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   
But I have promises to keep,   
And miles to go before I sleep..."

 

Edited March 12, 2022 by ManicManiac