It was believed that Walz and his guide could be overtaken speedily but, to prepare for any possible emergency, the group decided to pack enough supplies for several days on the trail.
“Walz will never reach the Headless Hollow Valley,” the rancher predicted confidently. “Alone, Ranier might do it. But if I know him, he’s in this expedition only for a bit of quick cash.”
Despite the need for haste, Craig Warner and Mr. Livingston were very thorough in their planning. Warner bought the supplies, including a vial of saccharin for sugar because of its lightness, some powdered milk, flour mix, oatmeal, dried fruit, salt, tea, and coffee. He also added a first-aid kit, a fishing rod, and a revolver borrowed from a friend when Sheriff Brown made him a deputy.
One of Warner’s ranch hands drove the party to Buckhorn and on to the beginning of the mountain road. There the six climbers shouldered heavy packs and trudged upward, at first following a marked trail. After a while, the trail played out, and the going became harder.
Making only brief stops for rest, they climbed steadily, through ravines and steep-walled canyons. At intervals, Warner raked the distant rock shelves with his field glass, but he failed to sight the two men he believed to have gone on ahead.
The day was cloudless, and a warm sun blazed down. Laboring under the heavy packs, the Scouts perspired profusely. Their leg muscles, tough as they were, began to ache. No one, however, made complaint or suggested a slower pace. When they paused to drink at a spring and refill canteens, Warner consulted the rough map he had redrawn from memory and compared it with an accurate contour map.
“It’s only fair to warn you,” he said, “the climb so far is only a tiny taste of what’s ahead.”
With a pencil, he made a dotted line, showing their projected route over the top of the mountain and down to an isolated valley. Then the line went up again into the higher, desolate peaks of Crazy Mountain.
“Our problem—if we follow Walz that far,” the rancher said, frowning thoughtfully, “is to find a pass through to the Headless Hollow region. It may not be easy. So if anyone wants to turn back, now’s the time to say so.”
One and all, the Scouts shook their heads.