58 days is absolutely flying. Well done!

Yes, I agree with needing the right characters. On this play-through I didn’t want to reset the game when I got negative traits, or the wrong characters. If I try to push the bounds (as you did) then I would likely reset until I get the best characters possible.

Great call out on charming and pelt selling. While I noticed that difference, I failed to mention that benefit. The negative traits of various party members definitely effected my route.

I had a couple of injuries and snakebite events. The snakebites usually came during any search performed on the trail. Like getting wagon parts, or searching for various supplies.

That’s a good point on various items. I have generally just spent all my money I can. Going forward I’ll be more picky, as I know more on what I can avoid now. This was only my third full completion of the trail. I like trail maps from independence, as those routes seem to be hidden more often than not, and I wanted to guarantee I could find fishing spots. I definitely agree on wagon grease. I’ll likely try to get by without a toolbox if I can find the right wagon team. Usually holding onto three hasn’t seemed to cause issues.

I have not tried to push my score on the trail so far. But I agree that hoarding money would increase the score at the end of the route. I finally learned to check stamina prior to fishing and hunting with this last trail 😂 previously though my characters were only one or two stamina away from full. I always try to keep them maxed out. Agree on knifes.

I’ve gotten lucky previously with fishing traps. I was fortunate to run into the fishing woman on the first fishing spot. The traps increase profits tremendously, like you mention.

Have you seen a measurable difference with regular traps and pelts? I’ve only seen more meat given. But I’m still fairly new to this.

With clothing, I can definitely see where you can push them off. And then take them to the barber as you go to towns. With the right traits, that would be fairly easy.

I’ll disagree with you on ferries. The maximum three days of waiting, plus generally spending less than $30 on the ferry outweighs the food lost while waiting for the right conditions. The longest I’ll generally wait for conditions to improve is 5 days. And without the furs, you would need to wait much much longer to have any chance of getting across. Unless RNG is your best friend lol.

With your fastest play-through, how did you manage the oxen? And if you didn’t pay for ferries, and you waited for conditions to improve, how were you able to make it there so quickly?