I am unimpressed. The kid took twelve days to go about as many miles. He had no idea what he was doing. At his age we were taking excursions out into the big woods behind our house regularly, sometimes for a few days, but we often covered a lot more territory than that, in about the same sort of terrain.

Had we ever pulled the sort of stunt he did, we'd have been taken to the woodshed when we got home. The kid had no idea what sort of risk he was taking. If we took off, we asked permission first, we were advised of conditions we had to meet, and we were asked for a plan before it was even considered. This was at 12 years old.

Just goes to show what the mental state of many of today's youth is. They're so out of touch with reality, they don't realize the consequences of their actions usually until it is too late. This kid was damned lucky. The only smart thing he did was give up and try to go back home before he got too far.

Perhaps he should have read the FAQ and realized there is a place that Tom recommends:

http://www.cotef.org/

Children of the Earth Foundation

Say what you will about this kid, but he's still smarter than the two dimwits who nearly fell off a cliff on Mt. Baldy.

Sue

And he survived for TWELVE days. How often do we read about adults croaking in far less than that???

True. Stupidity, it seems, knows no limits.

The really sad part is what it says about his Education. Sorry but by the age of 13 I had taken both basic geography, a number of years of Outdoor education and what I learned in scouting by then.

By the age of 13 I had a clear understanding that US State of New Jersey which is located beside the US State of New York was not somewhere I could walk to whether with "two packs of cookies, trail mix, tortillas, honey and four bottles of water" or all the food I could steal out of my parents basement supply and a toboggan to haul it with.

He is alive because at least he did some basic planning and preparation. He carried a few Critical Items including a compass that probably saved his life. He failed completely in his attempt because he apparently could not read a map, possess a map or even download one from a computer, and his geographical education was woefully inadequate.

Most of the 13 years I know are computer literate, all he need to do go to go to Google Maps and ask for directions. It took me about 2 minutes: Snohomish County to Tom Brown Jr.'s Tracker School in New Jersey is a mer 4,662 Km or 2,897 Miles by road. He hoped he could cover that distance in "several months" let say 3 or 90 days. Thats 51.8 Km (32 Miles) per day. Even the best Infantry Platoon was was even in could not keep that pace up for 90 days.

I am hoping that a little while in "middle school" will be a good thing for him. He certainly has a bright future if he chooses to learn as much as he can from his wilderness experience.

I think he did a lot of things wrong. His whole plan was fundamentally full of fail. But that he kept breathing for twelve days is the reason I first posted this.

At least he had a better outcome than this 15yr old:

http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/532437

Crying shame about that 15 year old.

"Speak no ill of the dead" not withstanding, the kid pulled a major dumbass move. I feel for his parents, and I think it's a shame about the kid, but running away from home over a freakin' X box?

That 13 y.o. who survived for 12 days is at least interested in the real world, although clearly his plan to walk to New Jersey hadn't been thought through.