A Bitterly Cold Morning and Some Tracks

We awoke in the cave this morning to a pale sunrise.  The sky had been clear overnight and outside our little cave there was a heavy frost.  The ground crunched under our feet as we gingerly went out into the frosty air.  We'd not had a fire last night, but the cave had protected us from the worst of the frost, and we'd hung a blanket over the entrance way to keep the cold out.  As a result of the six of us crammed into this space it was quite warm - there was condensation on the walls of the cave that had started to freeze by the doorway.

As the sun was now up, and there was light around, Barr quickly got a small fire going in the mouth of the cave.  He'd set up some snares down the trail that lead up to the cave, and a couple of them had a result.  He'd caught a couple of hares, which we cooked over the fire for breakfast.  Barr and I went together to check over the snares, and as we passed along the trail he stopped to look at some tracks.  I'm definitely no expert at tracking, but I could see these large footprints.  These, he said, were Oggar prints.  He did reassure me that they weren't fresh - they were not made last night, but probably two or three days ago.  That helped me relax a little, but he showed me how he knew about the age of them, how they'd weathered, and he also showed me how he knew there were at least three of them, and they were only passing through.

It's nice to learn a few new tricks, I found most of what he was saying quite confusing, if I'm honest here.  But at least we know that these particular beasts are not in the immediate vicinity.  The prints look awfully big, half as big again as my own feet.  It's quite an incentive to get through this country as quickly as possible.