Having enjoyed the veritable feast - at least, compared to the last day's meager morsels - Jan nods.

"If Bob is happy to care for Stan here then I'll come. Come to think of it, I'd completely forgotten..." he opens the medical kit and shows Bob the items he'd taken as identification earlier the previous day returning anything that was his.

He shares some of the medical supplies for use by Stan and Bob, freeing up some space in the aid kit to carry other items easily. Finally he pulls out his phone, turns it back on, turning off the wireless features to prolong the battery life and taking off his pass code.

"Here," he offers it to Bob. "There's no signal here yet, but that doesn't mean there won't be one later. And if we find anything at all we can call you. Preserve the battery as long as possible as there's no way to charge it here. Yet."

He then takes a few moments to ready himself for the trek, gathering a few extra tops to rip and wrap around his head, body, neck and hands. Looking like he'd exploded out of a wardrobe he grins at the girls.

"I'm ready."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:46, Thu 09 May 2019.

"Snowshoes on," Alison declared. "Grab a couple of full bottles each and a cereal bar and we'll hit the slopes."

She strapped on her own shoes and complied with her own instructions before crawling out into the cold.

"Good Luck," Bob called after them.  "Come back for us if you find anything."

It's actually not snowing today, but still very cold and gloomy.  The pine forest was eerily quiet without the sound of the wind.

They easily made it back to the trail flag and looked in either direction.  Their tracks from the previous trek had once more disappeared.

"Stick with the plan," Alison said, pulling out another flag to tie in the trail, "head in the other direction?"

She didn't want to worry about missing their exit again. The snow could start up again at any moment and cover their new tracks.

"I really didn't expect a shelter the other way, so who knows what might lie along here. Let's get this done."

Jan wasn't looking forward to this trek. He was under equipped and ill prepared, and knew the dangers of exposure. He looked around to mentally note the landscape and trees if he needed to navigate here without the aid of the flags. It was going to be a long, cold day.

The trio hike in the direction not taken.  Both women are better clothed than Jan, but the exertion of hiking through the snow with the makeshift snow shoes kept him from freezing.  However, if he had to stop for an extended period of time in this cold, he could be in trouble.

Alison and Kirsti recognized the path being the same in this direction as it had in the other.  Two parallel lines of older trees with much younger trees and shrubs down the middle.  From what they'd learned, the new growth up the center was probably seven years old.  It seemed to make sense.

They trekked on a few hours and everything looked the same as it had before.  Trees, snow, mountains, and more trees.

Thankful for the makeshift scarf, Jan's breath was warm against the cloth. "Any ideas on what this path is??" he asked.

"There's a shelter, possibly a mine shaft, that way. But this trail... A simple path would be overgrown by now, but this line of trees..."

"We think it's an old road," Kirsti replied. "Probably a dirt road or the trees wouldn't have been able to grow through the pavement by now. Hopefully, it leads to a major road with traffic. The problem is, how many miles is it before it reaches that road?

"We might be able to hike ten miles today out and back, but if the road's any further than that," she shrugged, "we're just not equipped for an overnight stay out here without finding or making another shelter."

"We'll head out this way for half a day," Alison said, reiterating their plan, "then return to the plane. It's just due diligence. We'd really be kicking ourselves if we were only a few miles from a ski resort or a ranger's station.

"But I have to agree with Bob. The plane is what they're going to be looking for. If we did set up a base in the break room, we'd need to hike down to the plane every day to brush it off and see if anyone had been there."

They couldn't see the sun in the gloom above them, but a periodic check of the phone for the time and a signal let them know when noontime came around and what they thought should be the midpoint of their trek.  They hadn't sighted any smoke or signs of civilization, just some animal tracks.  Probably a few rabbits and an elk or deer, but no bear tracks, so far.

Having traveled so far on the trail, they could now see that it probably was a road cut into the mountain as it kept a gradual slope and always seemed level.  Given it's slope and how it hugged the contours of the land, they could guess that perhaps this might not be the most direct route from A to B, just the easiest for vehicular use.

Having reached their halfway point for the day, Alison tied a flag in the road to mark their progress.

"We had to give it a try," she said, letting the flag flutter free. "Now we know."

Without spotting anything to spur them to push just a little further, they turned about and tromped back toward the plane.  Along the way they drank water, ate their cereal bar, and looked forward to a cardboard cup of hot soup.

"So, Jan," Kirsti asked as they slogged their way back to the plane, "why were you headed to Vegas?

"I was taking a quick study break from school and Alison was covering a conference."

The question was as much to relieve the boredom of walking back through their own tracks as it was out of curiosity.

"Research." Jan replies stretching his cold fingers to keep the circulation flowing.

"I am investigating the effects of creative group decision making on non-neuro-typical minds. There was a seminar and discussion I was due to attend as a guest speaker. Not sure I'll be on time for that now though..."

"I think you're probably going to miss that," Alison said wryly.

"When were you supposed to speak?"

They continued to hike back the way they'd come.  It was beginning to snow again.

"Wednesday. The seminar was planned for the evening with the debate after, then a meet and greet meal was planned." his stomach growled at the thought of real, hot food.

"So a couple of days sight seeing, looking round the campus and town. A few 'get to know you' lunches and drinks and I was hoping to speak to a few professors as well. Was looking forward to it."

"So, technically," Alison said optimistically, "you haven't missed your speech yet.

"Something to shoot for."

"Was thinking I'd invite them all here instead." Jan smiled.

"Move a few seats from the plane, make a big fire. Sorted."

"Invite them here!" Alison laughed. "I'd rather we get you, and us, to them."

"I don't know. This place has a serene, picturesque quality that under different circumstances would be very appealing." Jan felt warmed and sounded more enthusiastic than earlier.

"Though I do think that we'd have to find an indoor venue here somewhat. Man, I know we still have time but I was really looking forward to the first meet and greet drinks. You know, the one where someone always drinks too much and makes a fool of themselves in front of everyone, then spends the rest of the trip hiding in the background or apologising for everything." He smiles at the fond memories that felt so distant - a lifetime ago.

"Anyway, when we get back I'd like to have a quick look at any injuries people might have, and check for other symptoms like infection, trench foot, early stage hypothermia and frostbite.

Not much we can do about some, but knowing means we can monitor at the least."

Kirsti definitely wouldn't mind having a drink right now herself. And she definitely didn't want to know what trench foot was.

"Checking hands and feet sounds like a good idea," Alison agreed. "Especially Stan and Bob as they were unconscious a lot of the time and couldn't tell us if they were getting super cold."

Without difficulty, they spot their trail flags and left the trail to return to the cabin.  Bob was relieved to see them and introduced them to Stan.  He'd regained consciousness while they were gone.

"Nice to meet you Stan," Alison said with a wave and a smile to the older man.  She was glad he'd finally come around. She was worried less about how much they had to eat than getting everyone out alive.

"We didn't find anything in the other direction," she went on to explain to both men. "Looks like we'll be headed back to the break room tomorrow."