The Marshal asks that the watches cycle quickly, and he takes the last one after getting a couple hours of sleep. When you wake, he already has a couple pounds of salted pork, heavy with fat, frying in an iron skillet for breakfast, and a few bowls of porridge layed out. The snow has finally stopped, leaving over three feet of snow on the ground. Looking about with tired eyes, you note a freshly made path heading to the east.
"The shaman left a good twenty minutes ago. I gave him a couple extra blankets and the last of my matches." Colburn tilts his hat back and winces as he looks up to the bright sun. "Damn sun's going to make things rough on the eyes today." He starts handing out the breakfast as it finishes along with steaming cups of Arbuckle's.
Once you all finish eating and gathering your gear, the posse starts to make its way north. The going is very slow as you take turns leading, breaking through the snow to clear a path. A bit before sunset, you reach the edge of Mount Shasta itself; an impressive peak, dazzling in the bright sun from the west. You currently meander through a steep valley on the southern face of the mountain.
Both Bear Trap and Michael's ears prick up as you move through the snow. The horses start whinnying nervously and prancing as a dull runble starts to fill your ears. Bear Trap turns to face the group with a somber look on his face and hisses out a word that every man native to these parts dreads...
"Earthquake!"
ooc for Bear Trap: With Bear Trap's high Survival skill and local experience make it obvious in your position that the bigger threat in this situation is an avalanche. With so much fresh snowfall atop the shaking ground, it's bound to dump massive amounts of ice and snow down into the valley. There is no obvious shelter but one spot, a large bunch of thick pine trees about 600 yards to the north.
