My thought was that a worker has possibly broken the watch crystal while working, making it impractical to wear, but kept the watch at the cabin as a "clock", and it could've been there for years, serving that function.
Agreed ... That's a reasonable explanation for the watch being in the bunkhouse / trailer. Unfortunately, I'm not aware anyone ever verified whether the watch was known to have already been there.
That does bring up the most intriguing point in the whole episode for me. Who swaddled Weiher, and still had the strength to leave the cabin? Weiher starved for up to 13 weeks, and was found with his face covered, indicating he was dead when whoever wrapped him left the cabin! I would assume that whoever was with him must've been starving as well? Otherwise the food stores would've been disturbed.
I'm the one who recurrently uses the term 'swaddle' to describe Weiher's state, and it may overstate the case. The actual reports only state that the covering items were tucked in around / underneath his body in such a way the authorities concluded he couldn't have tucked himself in all by himself. That's the extent of what the documentation provides. I've never seen any photograph(s), diagram(s), or detailed textual explanations for the manner in which he was covered.
I'm not confident the alleged face covering demonstrates Weiher was already dead when finally tucked in. He was found on the lower bunk in the bunkbed nearest to the broken window presumed to have been the means for gaining access to the bunkhouse / trailer. Given the weather conditions, covering his face may have represented an attempt to protect him from the elements (alive) rather than respectfully obscuring a corpse's face.
I don't believe Weiher lasted anywhere close to the 13 weeks that elapsed between the fatal night and the time his body was discovered. I also suspect a portion of the unusually high weight loss claimed for his body may have been the result of desiccation rather than starvation.
NOTE: It still bothers me that he ended up in what should have obviously been the worst available bunk - low and next to the broken window. I can't help but wonder if it's significant, but I've never made sense of it.
The other man (Huett, I think) who was found closest to the cabin. I thought his body was in decent condition, possibly indicating he never made it to the cabin. Or, if he did make it to the cabin, he didn't stay there for long enough to be starving. Was he found to be near starvation? I thought all those found outside had died of exposure or undetermined causes? Also, wasn't Huett the most impaired of the bunch? Would he have known how to wind a shroud? But if he wound the shroud, then he would've been at the cabin much longer, until Weiher had died.
The remains of Madruga, Sterling, and Huett were all found between the car abandonment site and the bunkhouse / trailer site (roughly 1/2 to 2/3 of the way along the probable route* from the former to the latter).
* See my comments elsewhere concerning the probable route (following the Sno-Cat tracks) that would have been much shorter than the commonly-quoted 19 - 20 miles' distance from Madruga's car to the bunkhouse campsite.
Madruga's and Sterling's bodies were found in close proximity to each other off one side of the road leading to the trailer. These two were claimed to be close buddies who tended to stay together as a pair, so it's not surprising their remains were found close together. Huett's remains were found not very far away (let's say a mile or less) off the opposite side of the road.
All 3 bodies had been scavenged by animals. Madruga's body was the least 'violated'. Sterling's body was in much worse condition (pretty much skeletal).
Huett's remains consisted solely of scattered bones, and his were the last remains to be discovered. Huett was Weiher's close buddy and sidekick.
Some accounts (FWIW) claim one of the guys was the most impaired or dependent on others. It was either Sterling or Huett, but I don't recall which one it was.
Since Huett was Weiher's closest pal among the 5, he (Huett) would be the one most likely to have doggedly stuck with Weiher to the bunkhouse / trailer if he could.
There are no tangible clues concerning whether these three died going toward the bunkhouse or possibly backtracking from it. As noted elsewhere, three blankets and one or more flashlights were found abandoned a short distance from the bunkhouse, and these may be evidence of an attempt to return from the bunkhouse.
Neither are there any tangible clues as to whether these 3 were hiking together in one or both directions.
That means that Gary Mathias was at the cabin, and didn't get dropped off at his contacts location, and was with the group. But, that means he was with Weiher until the end, possibly almost 2 weeks before rescue. How did he have the strength to leave? And how did he get far enough to not be found?
I'm not sure Mathias was at the cabin at all. The only clue suggesting he was there were his sneakers (found on Weiher's frostbitten feet instead of Weiher's own leather shoes or boots).*
A few cans of food had been opened, but none had been touched.
There's no decisive evidence that anyone (other than Weiher) spent much time at the bunkhouse / trailer.
My working hypothesis is that Weiher never moved from the bunk once he was in it and covered.
* Furthermore, there's only one bit of evidence (the store clerk's report, given days or weeks after the fatal night) indicating Mathias was with the other 4 in Chico that night. The clerk claimed to remember the 'boys' because they entered the store just as the clerk was starting to close down for the night (an annoyance that luckily made the encounter stick in memory). The clerk was reported as claiming all 5 came into the store ...
... but the cash register record (tape?) demonstrated they bought only 4 drinks (2 sodas; 1 pint of milk; 1 quart of milk) and 4 snacks.
Indeed!