when you arrive camping pillow compass hat bandanna If you wear glasses bring a cord to hold them safely around your neck so you don’t lose them when boating or rock climbing Other optional items Good books Portable games such as cards and cribbage crossword puzzles Paper stamps envelopes pen addresses your parents and friends will want to hear from you Art supplies journal nature guides binoculars musical instrument if it’s not too fragile or other hobby supplies Pocket money no more than 20 though Please do not bring any electronics or a cell phone They don’t survive getting wet dirty or lost And besides who needs them You’ll be hiking in the woods and swimming in the lake most of the time Who would you text A squirrel A fish Enjoy being free of screens except the kind that keeps bugs out for two weeks
Chapter One So Zack Wilson thought almost laughing at himself I’ve been at Camp Wolf Trail what Ten minutes And already I’m having an adventure Zack looked at the rough map in his hands He wasn’t lost in the woods exactly He just didn’t know where he was I’ll swap you this map for your gear the counselor Carlos had said with a grin right after Zack waved good-bye to his parents as they drove away Your mission is to find Birch Cabin your home while you’re here Have fun on your map challenge And don’t worry Someone will always be tracking you Oh and welcome to Camp Wolf Trail 9
So Zack had set out striding along the path through the shady woods taking deep breaths of the pine-scented air his thumbs hooked through the straps of his backpack his legs feeling strong and sure His whole life he’d dreamed of walking through the woods all on his own like this And the hike was great just the way he’d always imagined hiking would be up until now Now there was trouble dead ahead The big path split into two smaller trails But the map showed the path dividing into three trails and it was the trail on the far left the one that didn’t seem to exist in real life that led to Birch Cabin Knowing how to read a map was important Zack knew that from studying his favorite book in the entire universe The Outdoor Adventure Guide The Guide told almost everything there was to know about the great outdoors how to build a shelter or start a fire how to use a compass or navigate by the stars 10
Zack could feel the book hard and flat against his back inside his backpack Zack had read The Outdoor Adventure Guide from cover to cover over and over He practically had the chapter on map reading memorized But this was his first experience actually using a map to get where he wanted to go It was harder than it looked particularly now that Zack was deep in the woods and especially when the map didn’t match the path I guess this is the challenging part of the map challenge Zack thought Zack could feel his hands starting to sweat He wasn’t scared but he couldn’t help thinking he must have gone wrong somewhere Stay calm he told himself He knew what the Guide said about getting scared A little scare isn’t always a bad thing It can help you pay attention It can keep you on your toes But it’s hard to think straight when you panic If you get too scared you can put yourself in danger So remember It’s okay to just stop walking 11
