Screenshot Pilgrim

I think this was earlier that same morning.

Standing in the northeastern part of the Muskeg looking south. You can barely make out the power lines and the eastern radio tower. Also there's a bear.

@ThePancakeLady was one of the first people to welcome me when I signed up on the forum, and always seemed to enjoy the beauty as well as the tomfoolery in the screenshots thread. I had wondered myself and just noticed this today. Sending good vibes. 🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃

Hazzah!! 😃

I like Illuminated Cookery. If there were any ships out there, you could lure them in with your lighthouse aged meats. Mmmmmm, you can really taste the salty wind in it. 🙂

Can't remember why, but I missed both 4DON events, so this one being open for a whole month was great. The time running out over the course of the weeks kept it on my mind periodically as I went through my work days outdoors. It would have been nice for there to have been a big syrup cache hidden in one of the outer regions to offer the possibility of a one start win, in addition to the multiple start strategy. Well, maybe there was one, and I just didn't find it. 🙃

Strange and dark shots from the ice caves in Hushed River Valley

Or I guess the workers house for shelter and the fishing hut for food until the time comes. Watch out for that bear, though.

Not sure if this helps, but I always stay based in the Pensive Lookout when waiting to go on the Cannery opening mission. I've only had to wait for a few days usually. Maybe just lucky, but up there I hunt and gather wood and try to time out my resting to give me night time hours being awake. You'll have to rope climb down and deal with the glowing wolves, but a flare gun will show em who's boss. Not as a killing weapon, but more like a concussion bomb to get them to panic for a bit.* *I've not tried this on Interloper. 😬 🐺🐺🐺 🐺

Good thread, @ManicManiac. Thanks for having us. 😉 I can't say I changed my style really, but I think I have two styles anyway. There are times when I like to live on fishing and leisurely poke around every corner of a region while gathering firewood. For me though, day or night, fully rested usually means it's time to hit the trail. I like long trips and I often just leave stuff I don't need where I find it, and maybe put a note in the journal for later reference (I'm with @peteloud on the spray paint, but really just for aesthetic reasons - no offence meant to the graffiti/spray paint artists out there, but I just can't bring myself to use it). I almost never map anyway, and try to rely on memory. During this event, I used a few charcoal in HRV to get my bearings, then used the sun/moon/hazy light to figure my direction. When it's snowing heavily and the sky has that grey whiteness, well... 😐 maybe then it's time to dig in and wait.

Made it up to the Summit after finding nothing but the usual gear, including in all the cargo boxes. Then the very last search I made was... I didn't make it to the 25, but I think I was well over halfway, and ended on a high note. Had a lot of fun and a few laughs, so not sad about the badge. Thanks for the event, Hinterland! Stats are from my second guy.

If only... 😄

A daring idea @acada, but something tells me prison bus guy is better at dodging wolves than dodging police. 😄

Down the western side of Coastal Highway to the Rabbit Grove cabin. Skipped the Bear Creek Campground with a bear in it, then to the Fishing Camp. I took the Jackrabbit Island route to the Waterfront Cottages on my way to Desolation Point. A thoroughly creepy night on the Old Island Connector and four days of bad weather at the Point with nothing to put on my pancakes. I did have a fun moment right after this next shot. Was waiting for the wolves to get closer when a bear walked past right underneath my small ledge perch. I thought I had such a good shot, but only wounded it. Then I dumbly watched him run up the road and turn back to scale the ledge I was on. I went down to the left and then straight off onto the road below. I don't know how I got away without two sprained ankles, but I ran across the road and down onto the ice. Had to deter the wolf with a rifle shot, then I made it up to Hybernia. Back at Coastal Highway, the whole Townsite was a bust. I slogged around to a few more spots, but nothing. No auroras, so no elevator ride. I've been through the whole southern half of Pleasant Valley too, with only the one Farmhouse syrup. Just the northern parts left to explore, then Timberwolf Mountain for the last event day.

I must have been loopy from my wasted trek. The loose ends were on the western side of the island...😵😴

After the Inlet I figured I'd have time to tie up the loose ends on the eastern side of Great Bear, so from the Ravine I went back to Mystery Lake, hit the Logging Camp, then over the hill and down the Lake Trail to the Western Access area. Climbed the rope behind the bear cave and took the rope with me, heading back one last time to Broken Railroad to check the ravine there. This also allowed me to finish the Muskeg along the northern side. A long walk for nothing, but now it's done. Trudged back to Mystery Lake and went towards Trapper's to make an outer loop of the region ending at the Carter Dam. Found one syrup at the Dam in a plastic container. I couldn't bring myself to keep smashing every crate in the place so I left for Coastal Highway. My plan now is to end the event on the Summit after looting Pleasant Valley. I haven't kept count of syrups, but estimate to be about half way or slightly more. The Broken Railroad wolves were of course really glad to see me again.

😄

@acada How rude of prison bus guy not to notice her there. 😄

Arrived at Bleak Inlet early in the morning and stayed perched on a stone formation above the slope that leads to Pensive Lookout. It wasn't long before I spotted the timberwolves skulking around. I waited and they moved off for a while, then returned. Took a long range shot at one and saw the snow kicked up, but no reaction. Took another long shot and off it ran. I didn't know until a day or two later that I had actually hit the thing. Probably one of my longest hits with the rifle. I made it to the lookout without any trouble, retrieved the rope, and deployed it. I decided to climb down and search the nearest cabin. Nothing much there, so hiked down to the Worker's Cottages. Also not much I would need. The bear was close by when I came out so I put two rounds into him and didn't see it again for the rest of my stay. Storming quite often and got caught on my way back up to get the door code. Spent a day getting some meat so I could save my lightweight food for the trip out. I could have timed my rest better when the aurora came, but I had to make due with being half rested and the coffees I had saved for the mission. I brought a flare gun and arced a flare from near the gatehouse into the enclosure of the Cannery yard. It was effective and the wolves scattered. I shot another flare right at the opening and dashed through to the short rope climb. Once I was atop the entrance gate, I wounded at least two wolves with rifle rounds. It took me three revolver rounds to put down the shop wolf (two missed), and then I hit the sack. Spent a few days around the workshop with no luck on syrups, so started to venture outside for several more days. Plenty of wolf meat to eat, but a lot of work around the area for no return. While I was searching the trailers up the road I noticed a dead wolf on the ice about halfway to the island. Decided to get some more meat then noticed... It looked like they were going to cut me off from the shore so I used up about 5 or 6 rounds to drive them off. I found dead wolves over the course of the next few days, so put a few more long shot notches on my rifle stock. So while I had some good rifle practice, I left the region without success in the the syrup hunt. The wolves in the Lookout area were out for blood when I was ready to leave, so I waited until night and gave them some parting shots with the trusty flare gun. One to get me past and one to convince them not to chase.

It was the mine entrance that leads to Pleasant Valley and is closest to the Abandoned Lookout on the Coastal end. I heard the elevator was a new addition, but I actually haven't used it yet. There was no aurora that night, so I just went through, checked the containers, smashed open the crates, and went back to the Coastal entrance to rest. Once I'm done at Bleak Inlet, I'll have to remember to check it out.

Prison bus guy continued.. No trip through the Muskeg is complete without at least one night outside during a blizzard. I had already combed the southern part and was rested enough to try for an evening run through the eastern rim. Storm hit while I was checking the radio tower. Had to switch location and start a new fire during the night, but was able to wait it out and catch up on rest. I was travelling light enough to sprint across a weak ice section that had once caught me in the past. I continued up to the tracks and had another short rest at the Camp Office. A trip around the Lake Cabins (no syrups), some fun and games with the lake wolves, then a night in a trailer by the Dam. As I mentioned before, no rope in the Ravine, so decided to look around Coastal Highway for one. Spent a night in the mine which landed me one syrup found in a locker, then hit the Abandoned Lookout to fetch a rope. Free climbed down to the little cabins (nothing found), then back to the Ravine. Waited out another storm in a cave and watched the rabbits. Bleak Inlet next...

You know, I think I have to agree to some extent. @piddy3825 posted a screenshot where he found 6 or 8 in one shot from breaking up some crates. That's the kind of thing I'm still hoping for. I'm on my second guy, but only because I had a bonehead day with my first. I would have liked to see it be at least possible with a single try. Maybe have a well hidden motherload somewhere. Well, just speculating anyway. For all I know it is possible, but sounds like not. That said, I've been enjoying the event a great deal, and since I'm not a badge hunter normally, I won't lose sleep over it. The almost daily blizzards and the need to keep travelling are enough to take satisfaction in having endured it. I think I've only missed a few days of the event, and been having fun writing up a kind of travelogue here.

True and sometimes baffling. 🙃 Perhaps @acada's Astrid needed the ropes. Hopefully she's well out of the Inlet by now. I was up late last night with prison bus guy, making his own way down to the Cannery. Which was after having to hike all the way to the Abandoned Lookout in Coastal Highway to get a rope for the climb down the Ravine! 😄