[wildcard_redneck]

"Even then, a 12 year old would not likely have that kind of experience."

I grew up in Montana and did two hikes in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. Here was the hiking schedule when I was 11 and 12:

Day 1: 10 miles uphill
Day 2: 10 miles uphill
Day 3: 10 miles uphill over 8500' pass
Day 4: camp at 6500’ elevation with a 12 mile round trip hike without backpacks
Day 5: 20 mile downhill and out.

It totaled to 62 miles of backpacking in 5 days and none of us got lost.

[Vermont Lt]

I knew most of the stuff because I was the youngest of three boys and were “adventuring” on a regular basis.

But if this was a city kid or even a town kid…they might not know how to navigate in the woods. And that is some deep woods up there. Especially back then.