TIL the guy at the trailhead in Flagstaff was right about my pack weight and I hate it
Two summers ago I ran into this older dude at the Snowbowl trailhead outside Flagstaff who looked at my pack and just said 'you packed for a motel, not a mountain.' I laughed it off because I had done the Grand Canyon rim to rim the year before with the same setup and felt fine. Fast forward to last month on a 3 day loop in the Pecos Wilderness and my shoulders were toast by mile 6 on day one. I finally weighed everything at home after the trip and the whole thing came to 41 pounds for a 3 day trip, which is insane when I look at it written down. Half of that was stuff I never touched, a second stove, a full camp chair, and 4 pounds of food I brought back home. I went back through my old Canyon trip photos and realized I was miserable the whole second half and just blocked it out. Now I am rebuilding my whole kit from scratch and trying to get under 25 pounds. What is the one item you guys finally left at home that you never missed?