Steve's Ultralight Backpacking Page

2002 Trip Planning

Although I didn't think about it at the time, I began backpacking as an "lightweighter". This was not so much by design as through a limited equipment budget and "knowledge". As the years went by I began "upgrading" my equipment, buying highly rated stuff and having to have every gadget that came along. My load continued to grow and I enjoyed hiking less and less. I eventually turned to other interests, including canoeing the BWCA. In the fall of 1999 I stumbled on some of the ultralight and lightweight hiking pages and began to see the error of my ways. I was enjoying it less because of the huge load I was carrying. I also did a lot of lurking on Backpacking Light eGroup (now part of Yahoo! Groups). I worked over the next year paring down my load and rethinking my equipment. I started trading over-designed heavier pieces of equipment, like my Gregory Massif Backpack (6,850 cu. inches and 7lbs. 5 oz.) for a much lighter Mountainsmith Mountainlight 3500 and eventually a GVP G-4 pack (weight 12.5 oz.).