The sunken cheeks, the fever.  Shock has set in, Trail… Wes is in real Danger… not to mention that, notwithstanding all the physical discomfort, he, HOWEVER, wants to “get back to Shelley.”  Seriously, who uses the word ‘However’ in this context?  And oh by the way, Mark, Wes sure is HUNGRY…  The close-up of Wes reveals facial stubble, while in frame one it looks as though Mark has grown the full Abraham Lincoln chinstrap… Which is probably the spontaneous Trail body reaction to being suddenly thrown into survival mode… but then it miraculously disappears by panel three…

But down the mountain we go, hat perched on the back of the Trail-head- ha!- Trailhead- get it?? That’s a joke, son! ( a little hiking humor…)

And for what it’s worth, I can only manufacture a certain amount of worry here… I don’t think we have ever actually LOST a character in the decades that this strip has been in production… so, Mark, Wes, Carry On!  We should have you back to safety by Independence Day!

Heading off, no telling where they are or when they will be back…

But I see that while Miss Breakfast-in-Bed is all about trying to console herself and her worries, with Cherry doing her best STAY CALM routine, (Said another way, “Shut that pie hole Missy, Or I will give you something to REALLY worry about…) Shelley is warding off the coming stress induced migraine… At Least Cherry has a cheery fire going with ample glowing sticks of wood to pull out and use to ward off the impending wolf attack.

Meanwhile, the wolf pack is warming up with a “chase me, chase me” game with the moose family.  Predators like it when their prey runs… do we suppose that Shelly and Cherry will oblige?   Remember, Cherry, you don’t have to be faster than the wolves, just faster than Shelley.  That really shouldn’t be a problem…

OK, I am not wishing any harm to come to Shelley and Cherry, but c’mon, we had some REAL TENSION building back at base camp…  Pink Mist, Howling wolves, the whole schmear… And this is all remedied by a “propane camp stove” and a cup of Tea?  Never mind that the chair she is sitting in along with the tent in the background (of which there must be two) is of the safari-quality canvas type that could only be brought in by a train of pack-mules, not stowed in the cargo hold of a little pontoon plane…

Love that Shelley still appears to be clutching her kerchief in her right hand while being waited on hand and foot…  That’s the spirit!  And never mind that Old Wes and is new best friend Mark are out there in Heaven knows what predicament…  “We might end up getting STUCK OUT HERE!  I may never get a signal on my phone ever again!  I will never again tweet!  Or find out if Kanye returns to Kim!”  The strategic head tilt in Panel two yields to the uncomely furrowed brow of panel three, as Shelley is now being driven to take off in search of help!

OK, now I am amused…  With the sheep that Mark and Wes were fixing to “shoot” perched high above them and mocking them mercilessly, we are being asked to believe that the “men” are perched precariously on a mountainside, with Mark’s voice emanating from the very essence of our Mother Earth… and why is it getting snowier?  It would seem that they are walking INTO trouble, not away from it.  But who am I to judge??

And out of what, pray tell, will Mark build his shelter?  I cannot wait to see what he is able to whip up in these dire circumstances…  but then he IS Mark Trail, and I dasn’t doubt him, not even for a minute.   Wes continues to worry about “the girls…” Imagine how worried he would be if he knew that the wolf pack was circling!

Another thought… why would you take a novice, and especially one that has not a shred of enthusiasm about the whole endeavor, on a high altitude/ high adventure junket?  Aren’t we just asking for trouble??

Yes, of course Mark “fashioned a crutch,” such are the magical powers of one Mark Trail, who can fashion anything out of nothing.  A couple of days back it appeared that the surrounding area was devoid of anything deciduous or coniferous, so Heaven only knows WHAT he used to make the crutch… And the look on Wes’s face is troubled to say the least, but then he probably has gone into shock from his injuries, so hopefully Mark remembers the tell-tale signs, and what to do in that event…  Sentinel Squirrel is at his post, however, alerting all the woodland creatures that Master Mark is in trouble…

But really Mark…  What’s with the hat?  There’s jaunty, Jauntier and Jauntiest… and right now with the way it is perched on the back of your head you are tipping the Jaunty scale to a dangerous level…  Cherry/ Shelley; Shelley/ Cherry…  what is it they say you should always name your dog something that ends in an “ee” sound?  That it gets and holds their attention? That you can draw the sound out as you call (as in “La-a-assie-e-e-e-e-e-e…” ) Not sure how that works on Wolves…

In the stillness of the mountain twilight, wolves calling out to each other, with the sun setting on our increasingly concerned damsel(s?) in distress, the lake water turns… pink?  A nod to Victoria’s Secret?? And what exactly is enveloping Shelley in the second frame? Pink fog, Pink bushes?  A nod to Stephen King??

Shelley, cortisol flowing freely through her body, her delicate fingers touching her dermabrased and foundation-laden cheek, declares her fright for all the wild, natural world to feed upon…  Cherry offers up, “They’re wolves, Apex Predators that hunt cooperatively in packs, and we are in very strong canvas tents; don’t worry we are safe!”

Uh, OK, Cherry, even I am starting to think the whole “outdoors” thing is a little extreme…

And were we “Speaking of Wes??”  What were we saying?  Damn… missed all the dirt!  Cherry checks her watch and looks more angry than worried… as if to say, “All right, I have done all I can with this hopeless case…  I have taken one for ‘Team Trail,’ when do we pack up, make like a cow-pie, and hit the trail?”

At least we now see the lake where the plane has executed its take-offs and landings!

Yes, and as the sun slowly sets, the alpha make wolf is calling to the pack.  Translation: “Two estrogen-charged, bipedal creatures have been left behind and will serve nicely as our dinner tonight!”  So before you get too angry, ladies, consider the possibilities- that your respective husbands have gone DOWN, and you are being eyed as PREY!  Have to admit, there is real tension here…