A couple of years ago, I took the scouts on a backpacking/speluncking trip for 5 days in a high mountain wilderness area. 6 mile hike in with about 2000 feet elevation gain.
As we were packing the cars in my driveway I pulled out the bathroom scale just for fun.
My pack weighed in at 75 pounds with water, just shy of half my body weight. The winner was 81 pounds. The lightweight was about 51 pounds.
Just this weekend we went hiking up to a nearby waterfall. It was almost a 2 mile hike in, nearly all of which was uphill. I ended up carrying my 4 year old in a backpack, while my wife carried the 1 year old. I had much more hip and back pain this weekend with a 35 pounder on my back than the 75 pound hiking backpack. Its all about the equipment.
|