I Feel Like I Should Get a Medal

It may or may not be obvious as you're reading this but I survived my overnight at Raccoon Creek. So, drumroll please!: I'm now officially a backpacker! Yea! It was a good time with lots of learning thrown in, but it was a weird time, too. For instance, after freezing for a couple hours because I couldn't get a fire going, I now know why fire starting material is talked about in BP Mag as much as it is. On the weirdness side (for me and anyone who hikes in NE Ohio anyway), I haven't seen so many plants other than ferns, mayapples and garlic mustard; seeing grass and no deer almost made the trip worthwhile in and of itself. Other stuff: It's nice to know that I can do a ten mile day; I wonder why there were no switchbacks; someone in the PA DCNR needs to learn how to signify that the trail goes left or right (offset stacked blazes anyone?); crossing a road in PA when the speed limit is 40 (but everyone is doing 60) and there are no signs to alert motorists of a trail ahead is NOT fun; were those downdrafts and microbursts and what would I have done if that tree branch had landed on me instead of landing ten feet in front of me; how could the only "wildlife" I saw be a house cat, three chipmunks and birds? But the best part of the trip hands down was when I was in camp. I was tenting in an area adjacent to an organized camping area where there were Boy Scouts. Eventually, like kids will, the Scouts made it over to where I was (freezing in a shelter trying to figure out how to get a fire going) and one of the kids came up, saw my pack and said "Did you backpack in?" Saying 'Yes' was the best part of the weekend. Oh, and by the way, my bug spray turned out to be "highly flammable." That, on some TP plus pine duff, equals crackling fire!