Last summer, I set off on the 96-mile West Highland Way carrying my camping gear plus all of my food for five days. My camping gear overall is pretty light, so when I had packed up my base load a few days prior to leaving and the scale showed it to be under 15 lbs, I was quite proud of myself. This is going be easy, I thought!
But, once I added five portions of oatmeal, five packets of mac n’ cheese, five tuna pouches plus various slices of salami, trail mix and granola bars, a liter of water, and some extra clothing, it was a different story. I wasn’t like Cheryl Strayed, rolling around on a hotel room floor unable to lift her pack before setting off on the Pacific Crest Trail, but I wasn’t exactly scampering along the trail either.
