You don't warm them up in front of a hot fire, for one thing,' Dad interjects, but not enough to be confident of what the wrong things is. The four students are wrapped in blankets and one is carried by stretcher, a quarter of a mile to a forestry vehicle that is currently unbogged. It was no mean feat to carry a secondary student a quarter of a mile in those conditions. The night is still very young and who knows how many little pockets of students are scattered about in a similar condition. The three of them, along with Jack Smith and Clive Lanigan trudge on across the plain to Miller's Hut with the idea of finding more of the group sheltering there.
Nothing appears to happen but four hours of trudging along in the snow with a couple torches.
No, he says, they're not cold because they're moving. I finally ask feebly. I don't want to write that they were walking through the trees if there weren't any. Here is the place where Dad's story and the official version part company. Dad mentions something about 'going down to Echo Point' as if it was a casual stroll to the end of the street, where the report depicts 'a feat of supreme bushmanship' in which the scouting party follows tracks in the snow down a 1400 foot descent to Riggall's Spur.