DsnowMan

Day 4 I stumble through the dark cave in the morning, trying to find the exit without using a match. When I make it to FM, it is cold and windy again. What happened to warm foggy FM? I do more clothes repair, and run out of cloth before finishing. It is close to noon, and snowing, but not as windy as before. I head out towards Spence’s, moving slowly to get around a wolf near the cave exit. I’m almost freezing by the time I get to the next cave, so I start a fire inside. Then a blizzard starts outside. Not great. I had originally planned on raiding Spence’s and trying to get all the way to ML today, but that is not happening now. I boil water, teas, and wait. The blizzard breaks in early evening, and I head over to Spence’s with a lit torch. Staying against the hill, the torch stays lit despite the wind. Near Spence’s, there is a deer carcass I desperately need. I haven’t seen many cattails, and I am out of food save for two bad cans I am trying to avoid eating. I approach the carcass and get barked at. Oh boy. I start a fire and the wolf is closer than I first thought, he is already holding ground. Fire fails once and I get it going again real fast. I hope the wolf doesn’t get bored waiting for me… This still seems a little anti-thematic, but I imagine my dude standing there brandishing the torch as he slowly pulls sticks out of his pack, and maybe a bit of accelerant. Once the first is going, he starts chucking lit sticks at the wolf. I could see a hungry wolf unsure what to do, and then running in panic once the fire starts flying. Get the fire going, and… wind shift!! Ahhhhh retreat to Spence’s, I will figure that out in the morning. Spence’s has a ragged ski jacket that will become useful once I repair it, matches, and fuel to help me survive the night. I sleep for a few hours, and when I wake up the wind is quiet. New plan! I grab a torch in the middle of the night and return to the carcass. I harvest it without hearing from the wolf, and return to bed. This was a lot more scary than I made it out to be. I sleep until the fire is close to running out, break a couple boxes to get to the safe and dog food, and back to bed for the rest of the night. I always have interesting nights as Spence’s.

Day 3 More clothes repairs, but I am failing more than I am succeeding and my cloth supply is running low. I go out mid-morning into the bitter cold and scout my route. Moose. Right over the ridge outside the trailer. Okaaay, back inside. I take a quick nap and then head out around noon, heading the long way around the trailer and down near the ice. I know the exit is off to the right in the frozen tundra, and it’s a long ways away. I will need at least one fire. It’s windy, but I don’t run into any wolves and make good progress. My temp bar runs low and I find a nice rock to make a fire behind. Drop some coal, and… wind shift. I am really grouchy now. What the fudge, Evil Wind! I’m almost freezing, low on matches, out of coal, and not entirely sure where I am. I starting jogging, and see a familiar looking valley. I think I stumbled into the exit. I lose some condition before making it to the cave, and am super-relieved to see the tool-tip “Leave Bleak Inlet”. I didn’t see any timberwolves, so I light one of 3 marine flares (which end up being dead weight if you aren’t hanging out in Bleak Inlet), then warm up at a fire. I go back out to grab some edibles, and then head towards the Muskeg. When I emerge on the other side, the wind is maybe worse than in Bleak Inlet. I won’t get far in these conditions. It’s also late afternoon, and I’m tired already? I collect mushrooms and cook them over the fire, and make my way back to the pine bed. I’ll make my move to Spence’s in the morning. (I thought about skipping Spence’s and going straight to mystery lake, but I really need the matches, and I am expecting bingo matches in ML. So Spence’s is a necessary detour right now).

Day 2 The cabin has a sewing kit, so the morning is for crafting improvised hand wraps and clothing repair. A baseball cap is enough to ward off head-bite. It is very cold and windy out. But by noon, the wind settles down and I head to the carcass on the pond. This time I harvest the meat without incident as light fog settles over the Inlet. This is much better, I can work with this. I chain torches and make my way down along the bottom of the cliff (under the lookout), and still have not seen any timberwolves. I check the pond near the shortcut, hoping to find another carcass, but don’t see it. I turn towards the bridge to the cannery and almost stumble over a snowshelter. I had planned on warming up in a car or the truck, but this will do nicely. Warming fire, then along the bridge, collecting food in the cars as I go. As I approach the cannery, I pause the game (sorry to any no-pause purists). I was originally planning to raid the cannery, but it will cost me a blue flare or two, and takes a few hours. It is getting late already. I know I will find a toque and sardines, and I might find matches. Hmm, I have only 3 matches left, thought I was being more careful. I’m starting to get cold again, I’ll have to make a fire in the cannery somewhere, costing another match. If I don’t find matches, I could be in trouble soon (flares can also light fires… but I still running low). I chicken out and walk on by. A few steps past the cannery, the wind really picks up. I think I made the right call. I stumble along the road to the trailers, don’t find much, and take a quick nap to warm up. The sun is setting, but I want to get to the washed out trailers for the night. It is not far, but it is really cold and windy now, and I drop some condition on the walk/run over. Although I have heard there can be matches in either set of trailers, I get nothing. Tomorrow, I need to try to get to Spence’s. Condition around 85%

Long time reader, first post. I am inspired by other writers, especially DrifterMan, to tell you about the challenge I am embarking on. I finished As the Dead Sleep in about 10 days on my first second try, and have thought about going for a long run. My goal is to finish the challenge in over 100 days. I’m going to try to balance a loot-and-scoot mentality with the thought that I’m probably not going back to most places, so I want to move slow enough to get most things of value. My high-level route is to head for the summit (I will probably drop into the ravine on the way, and maybe even to upper Bleak Inlet), to the forge in DP, and then to take my time on my way to HRV and then BR. The biggest challenge I will face is the no rabbit and deer problem. My early loper strategy is to get some rabbits curing going early and to loop back to where I dropped them after 5 days (I call it the ‘loper loop’). That’s out the window. I also rely heavily on chasing deer into wolves. Early on I will scare off the wolves, and later I will shoot the wolf for the 2-for-1. I will have to find new ways to hunt wolves, bears and moose, especially since the AI has changed for everything recently. I think a flare gun will still ruin a bear’s day, so at least I have that to fall back on. I have no idea how I will get to cooking level 5 (I don’t shred), but if I do, I am set. There are deer carcasses, so I can harvest hides and guts from the convenient ones (I am thinking near the Dam, up in TMW, and in parts of CH), leave the guts to cure, and turn them into pants and boots when I return. I’ll also need some guts for a bow, which I will want eventually. Questions: does anyone know if we can fish, if snares work when there are no live rabbits, and if cabin fever is on? Off I go. Day 1 The broken lighthouse main floor only has dusting sulphur. Pass. I quickly head upstairs to grab some firewood. Weird, the stairs seems glitchy, I’m bouncing around. The secret of the lighthouse is off for this challenge, I don’t head all the way up. Out I go, bounding down the hill. It’s very cold. I head to the fishing hut on the right (there’s always at least a marine flare), with a little run I can usually get to the residences without losing any condition. But this time I am behind, and the wind is in my face part of the way. I have to sprint and lose some condition. I warm up, collect some cloth, boil a bit of water, and head out to grab the hidden coal. I head north to the cabin, but see the bear on my route. I turn east towards the bear cave, and see the deer carcass is inside. Should I? What the heck, I can always restart. I thaw the carcass, collect some ‘shrooms, and cook some meat. It is very nerve-wracking, I keep running outside to see if I can spot the bear, but the hill to the right makes it impossible. Oh well, back to work, quickly! The bear does not return, and I continue my trip to the cabin. It’s been windy all day, but my torch survives. It’s getting a little late when I get in sight of the cabin, and drop left onto the pond towards the deer. I start a sheltered fire, throw some coal down, and immediately the wind shifts and blows down the fire. ARGH. I am freezing, abandon the fire, and head to the cabin for the night. It’s still very cold in there (I like how there are two zones in the cabin, pretty realistic). I sleep for a few hours, then venture outside in the middle of the night to see if the deer carcass above the cabin is there. It is not. I do find some cans of food at the picnic area, but have to retreat to the cabin again. Back to bed. I'm wondering if this cabin is worth the trip. There's another option where you try to get out of BI as fast as possible. Then after you are geared up, drop into the Ravine, upper BI and return to lower BI to loot it properly. Hmm, not sure. Let's see if I make it out of here. I am not very good at remembering to take screenshots. I might try a little harder, we’ll see. Also, the journal feature is off. I can’t see my exact condition? I’m guessing around 90%