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Outward Bound – Day Ten, Part Six

This entry is part 133 of 209 in the series Outward Bound

To read part five of day ten, click here.

After searching for over fifteen minutes, I found two sticks that I thought would work. They were slightly curved, which would actually work better than a straight one. The only problem was, how was I going to get it down into the ground? I also needed stakes for the other corners, (to tie the cord to) and I needed to find something to pound my stakes.

I thought about it for a couple of minutes while I started tying the para-cord to the loops. I tied the top two cords to the trees, then found some more sticks for stakes.

When I had found the sticks that I thought would work, I went down by the river. I resisted the temptation to jump into the water and kept looking for what I needed – a rock. It had to be a big rock, heavy enough to pound the stakes in.

But it also had to be small enough that I could carry it back up the steep trail that led to my tarp. I finally found one that wasn’t too heavy and started up the hill. It took me a couple of minutes, but I managed to get up there in one piece, with my rock.

I pounded my stakes in and tied the cord to them, adjusting the ones on the top when I needed to. I was in the process of pounding the extra stakes through the loops I didn’t have strings for when I heard something coming down the trail.

It was Katie, loaded with all of the group gear we had left behind. She smiled at me as she walked past and I grinned back. Just seeing someone made me feel better – I wasn’t entirely alone.

When I was done pounding stakes, I shoved my backpack under my tarp. I pulled out my black mat and brought it over to my sitting area, along with my journal and a pen.

As I was sitting down, I remembered. I had promised myself that I would go in the water when I was done with my tarp! I got up and started sliding down the hill to the river, and then I remembered that I still had to build a mailbox.

Since I was already half way down to the river, I decided I would build my mailbox when I got back. It probably wasn’t even noon yet – we had given up our watches at 9. I didn’t think it had been three hours.

Click here to read the next part of Day Ten.

*Everything here is from my own memory and may not be correct. Outward Bound is not responsible for anything I post here. Thanks too NCOBS for letting me use their photos.*

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More in this series:<< Outward Bound – Day Ten, Part FiveOutward Bound – Day Ten, Part Seven >>
Category: Outward Bound

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