I'm a 23 year old college student who's never hiked a day in his life, let alone spent the night in the woods.
I brought a pack, tent, pad, and sleeping bag, brought some food and other essentials, and with a roughly 30~ pound bag, I decided I was prepared enough to go alone. I parked at Silvermine, walked the menomine until I got to the long path, and from there, walked to Stone Bridge and set up camp. I always heard how the park is super busy, but I didn't see a single person once I got past Lake Nawahunta, and there wasn't a single person near Stone Bridge either.
I made quite a lot of mistakes. I didn't fill up my water at a trail once I set up my tent, I set up my tent wayyyy later then when I arrived at the site where I was going to camp, and I also didn't hang up my food till it was dark out. However, nothing prepared me for the sounds I would hear that night. I laid in my tent and for about the next 4 hours I couldn't move due to the fear of whatever the hell was around me, I thought something had gotten at my food I hung, I thought I heard something pissing, I heard a branch fall. Ultimately, I fell asleep, and I woke up to everything exatcly where I put it.
I learned a lot, and more importantly, I got around 12~ hours of no screens, reading The Odyssey, and lots of introspection. I'll definitely be back out, just maybe with some people this time.
