[at-l] Doesn't anyone Hike anymore?

[atrailhiker at adelphia.net (Marsha)]

Yep-I hiked a lot this weekend, especially Friday night. 

I was camping at Mosquito Creek State Park here in Ohio:  Went to bed around 1:00 am after a late night hike from the latrine back to my tent, about 1/2 mile- was I lazy that night. Fell asleep fast. I did notice an abundance of huge raccoons, but ignored them because all of my food was in my van. About 30 minutes later, I was awakened by a very loud noise. Stuck my head out of tent, had my head lamp on already, and I viewed about 10 raccoons on top of my picnic table, licking my stove, the table and just chewing, gnawing, and being the little raccoon nuisances they are known to be. Cute little buggers though. Went back to sleep. I was awakened by several loud sounds like mild thunder and pounding. Stuck my head out, and these guys were all over my cooler, beating on it, trying to get inside.  I laughed at them. Yeah, sure....try and get it open, if you do-it's yours ! That cooler weighed about 100 lbs. with all of the ice and food in it-stocked full of meats, dairy, ice and sodas-it was made of steel.  It was sitting on the ground. It was locked. I fell fast asleep-again.  BAM-KABOOM-BAM BAM.  Okay, opened my tent, this time I got out, picked up my lantern and lit it. I was horrified. An army of raccoons jumping around holding packages of meat out of my cooler. It looked like a group of cavemen gnawing at raw meat straight from a movie! How did they get it open, and it was knocked over-this is impossible-but they did it. I've been camping all of my life and never encountered this before-sure I keep my food up, but not a heavy steel cooler. Guess I will now.  I counted 12 raccoons. Food gone was: 2 lbs. bacon, 6 lbs. sausages, 10 pounds chopped sirloin, eggs, 2 lbs. Bavarian ham, 2 lbs. smoked turkey, 2 lbs. dairy cheese, butter, yogurt. Okay, they ate good. Now I'm mad. Mad at myself.  The family was not upset, just looking at me in shock the next morning, expecting sausage, biscuits and gravy, eggs.  They got coffee and peanut butter sandwiches. Hey, it was delicious. 

The next morning, I saw a ranger's truck full of cages holding raccoons. I ran up to him and told him what happened. Said he would be back later to set more cages. I had a campsite at the farthest end. Couldn't figure out why someone wouldn't want this massive 2 acre campsite with water and electricity for $19 per night.  Other campers were packed side by side. I laughed.

I guess I'm still in shock-had to share it with you. Next time I'll treat everything, including my stove as I would on the Trail.

Great hikes-
Marsha
Cleveland

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