If we ever come back to this cache again, and I'm played out, as I probably will be, you'll have the pleasure of packing down everything we want." Weston did not answer, but there was a little satisfied smile in his eyes as he watched the horse wander away unhampered into the rain.
After this they sat down to a very simple meal.

Then they strapped their packs on their shoulders--a thick blanket each, a small bag of flour, some salt pork and green tea, and, while Grenfell carried the light ax, Weston slung a frying-pan, a kettle and a pannikin about him, as well as a rifle, for there are black-tail deer in that country, and they could not be sure that their provisions would last the journey through.

The prospector soon discovers how much a man can do without, and it is a good deal more than men bred in the cities would suppose.

The oddments rattled and banged about Weston's shoulders as he went up the steep slope through the thick timber; and by the time they had cleared the latter, Grenfell was visibly distressed, and both of them realized that their difficulties had commenced.
Any one unaccustomed to the country would probably have considered the devious march that they already had made arduous enough, but they had, at least for the most part, followed the valleys and crossed only a few low divides, and it was evident now that their way led close up to the eternal snow.

There was a rock scarp in front of them, up part of which they went on their hands and knees.