In camping and backpacking, like politics, you often find people whose cups are already full, so one, through experience, just smiles and moves on. To each their own. Hike your own hike, both literally and metaphorically.

Though I'm sure I have a few full cups and a few that runneth over, that has not been my case with backpacking especially since I found BPL. I've gone down from a 35 pound pack to a 14 pound pack (cold, wet paramo conditions up to 15k, 17 degrees and 40 mph winds, not including consumables which varies greatly depending on water availability). At lower levels I'm down to sub 10 (barely).

So the other day I find a kindred spirit on a short 14k peak. Bless his heart and his 50 pound pack. I summit and there he is exhausted, cold and light headed and not looking forward to going down over a short scramble that would hurt pretty good if you slipped especially with a mammoth on your back.

So he notices when I pull off my pack it didn't seem heavy and I let him hold it and believe me his cup was not full. Sitting up on a 14k peak I got to show off my 'stuff' and my 'knowledge' which on this forum is nothing but on that 14k peak baby I was da man!! Felt good. Really good.

Thanks BPL. Happy New Year.

Yep good points. We can envy someone else's "perfect" gear but anyone who's been around here long has a pack weight that virtully anyone else would envy.

Agreed. I hike with two guys who call me the "ultralight fanatic". Of course, to most around here my gear list is nothing special, but to them I have the lightest pack on the planet. What's awesome is that I get to see them slowly creep over to the lighter side of things and get a lot more hiking enjoyment because of it. So, if you really think about it, BPL is bringing enjoyment to a lot more than just its members/non-members.

Ryan

Well done Clayton! From student to BPL Ambassador- knowledge is vitalizing.

Hoot

I'm feelin' ya Clayton!

I, too, don't have the lightest pack on this site but I've helped a lot of folks I know get lower than they ever imagined.

And they think I'M the lightest!

I agree. When putting together a gear list for a trip with my companions, they always make fun of me because they say that according to me, "everything is too heavy"

Then when we are on the actual hike, they always say "I should have listened to you"

Puts a smirk on my face for sure.