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.*