Day Thirty-Nine

The mountain to the east blocked my first views of the morning until the red rays of sunlight crept around the northern and southern edges of the horizon.

North-east

South-east

The moon setting over the frozen ocean back west.

As the daylight cleared the mountain proper and the skeletons and zombies began to burn, I lowered myself to the ground. My four cacti had grown somewhat overnight so I jumped the final few cubes to land on the sand beyond.

Mobs burning to the north as I descend.

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I had already been traveling in snow for most of the previous day and continent and I imagined that the biome would be coming to an end very soon. But as I started to climb the mountain east, there was no end in sight to the winter wonderland in any direction.

Heading up the mountain.

Morning creeper.

Frozen lake to the north.

Snow-covered forest stretching off to the north-east.

While checking out the scenery from this small crest, I was ambushed by several mobs: two creepers and a zombie out way past his bedtime.

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Back!

I dealt with them and worked my way down off the crest, ignoring the greater bulk of the mountain to the south. Though, just as I returned to ground-level, I looked to the south and spotted a magnificent bridge of ground joining the mountain to several other hills. I decided to go investigate.

Looking south.

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Guess I better walk through it.

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There was a deep tunnel heading down into darkness back beneath the mountain I had slept by the previous night. I quickly checked its entrance for mushrooms and iron but found nothing and continued on my journey. After exiting the southern side of the valley beneath the bridge, I continued east and hit another small ocean. Or a large lake. Either way, it was  frozen over and I walked across.

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I kept expecting to come to the end of the snowfield but over every hill the snow just kept going.

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And going.

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And going.

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Walking across another frozen ocean.

Across the frozen ocean, I hit another snow field. There were no trees, no movement, no sign of life aside from the occasional yellow flower protruding from the white.

Trekking across the snow field.

A mountain on the horizon. And more snow.

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Several steps after taking the above photo, I suddenly began to fall and found myself a moment later with my head under water.

Wha?

Beats falling into a pit of lava, I guess.

I climbed out of the lake and continued on. I seemed to have ended up on the northern side of the mountain. There was a deep cavern and, more excitedly, what seemed like the end of the snow.

A cave heading south.

The end of the snow?

Not to the south, at least.

Over the next hill I hit an ocean. An unfrozen ocean.

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Couldn't quite make out if that is gravel in a cave or cobblestone in a dungeon. Either way, something is probably lurking beneath me.

To the south, it looked as though the land may swing around east again, so I decided to check it out before crafting a boat.

The southern shore. No east-heading land here. Boat it is.

Heading east.

It wasn't long before I hit another continent, this one covered in trees.

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I followed the river to the left of the above image inland, but it soon dried up. I left my boat behind and continued to follow the sand. After a bit, I came across the deeper lake I have ever seen.

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This isn't the bottom, but it was as deep as I was willing to go.

Perhaps it was an underwater cave, linking on to a vaster network of caverns, all underwater? I've never seen that before but the idea of it possibly existing sure is cool. I left the pool behind me and continued to follow the mostly dried-up river through several other small lakes until I hit a large, closed off lake.

Following the river east. This final section was not as dry as most of it.

A large lake mostly closed off from the river with a small, pointed island in the centre.

The forest to the north.

I followed the sand around the southern side of the lake and continued east by its shore.

Pumpkins on the southern shore.

Looking back west past the river from the far side of the lake.

I hadn't noticed how close to sunset it was. It was time to make camp. On a whim, I decided to camp on the island in the middle of the lake. Why not? I marked its corners with torches and built up several cubes of cobblestone from its peak to ensure no aquatic skeletons would get close to me. There was still the danger of mobs in the water not burning in the morning, but I would deal with that tomorrow.

Placing the torches.

Safe for the night.

Tomorrow's land.