Getting Back into Camping. List of Necessary Items?

[princewally]

You need a sturdy pocket knife and a good folding shovel. The rest is unnecessary luxury.

[Windy Wilson]

I don't want to seem excessively negative, but the 1972 edition of the Boy Scout Handbook was widely considered by the senior Boy Scouts at the time to be excessively urban-oriented. The part where it says something to the effect of, "if you become lost, ask a policeman for directions", certainly won't work where you intend to go. I would advise getting the immediately previous edition, which is, I think the 1965 or 1968 edition. The Fieldbook from that vintage is also excellent. If you want something on plants and trees, then you want the prewar edition from about 1940, which actually had articles written and signed by identifiable authors. One problem with Boy Scout lists is that when you assemble them the loads tend to be on the heavy side. Check out some non-Boy Scout sources include Backpacking One Step at a Time, by Harvey Manning.
Watch out for some of the ultra-light backpacking proponents, there's a guy that speaks at Adventure 16 here in California frequently and touts his plan for week long trips at 15 lbs total weight. He achieves this by using a one-cup tin cup and an alcohol stove made out of a soda can for cooking, and essentially disposable lightweight plastic for everything else. The theory of a race car falling apart as it crosses the finish line was fine for Colin Chapman to imagine, but the real world requires something more durable.
You don't need to get all freeze-dried food, that is tremendously expensive. Better to get some freeze-dried meats and combine with dry mixes from the regular grocery stores using recipes from cook books at the mountain shops.