Trail angel near Cascade Locks gave me a lesson in pack weight

Last August I was hiking the PCT section around Cascade Locks and my shoulders were killing me. This older guy at a camp spot saw me struggling to lift my 45 pound pack and just laughed, said 'you're carrying your fears, not your gear.' He showed me his setup, everything weighed under 18 pounds including a three day food bag. He let me hold his titanium pot and I felt stupid for packing that cast iron skillet I never used. Has anyone else had a random stranger completely change how they pack?

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kevin_schmidt9717d ago

That story about the cast iron skillet hits different, I did the same thing with a full-size camp chair on the JMT once. Weighed like 4 pounds and I only sat in it twice, now everything gets the "would I actually use this tonight" test before it goes in my pack.