Backpacking tips to myself

Yesterday Laura and I returned from our four-days-and-three-nights backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon. It was fun. It was hard. I entered the canyon carrying a 49-pound pack, including water, and Laura's pack weighed 35 pounds. By the end of the trip we were both suffering for all the unnecessary stuff we had been carrying around. Here are some reminders to myself to reduce my encumbrance for future backpacking trips.

• Pack less food. I reached the canyon's rim on the last day carrying about five pounds of food. Laura had even more. This isn't the first time I've overestimated beyond prudence my caloric needs for a backpacking trip. In the future, rather than to guess quantities, I'll pre-measure everything and count calories.

• Don't pack alcohol. Laura and I carried nearly a pound of wine each, all of which is now back in our apartment, unconsumed. The problem was there was never a night that we weren't too exhausted to enjoy some wine at the campsite—and we were exhausted because early in the day we had carried around so much unnecessary stuff in our backpacks, such as wine.

• Leave the tent at home. Laura and I have been using a six-pound tent on our trips, which I carry. It's spacious and luxurious—and unnecessary. From now on if Laura wants to stay in a tent, she can carry it herself. I'm going to stick with the combination of a tarp and bivy, which should save three to five pounds.

• Use balloons for a pillow. A couple of veteran backpackers we met gave the advice to fill a stuff sack with two balloons to use as a pillow. This is lightweight and cheap.

• Pack a smaller cooking pot. I brought along a 2L titanium cooking pot, which was nearly twice as big as needed. A smaller pot won't save much weight, but it will save some space.

• Don't use a compression sack. For the hike out of the canyon, I experimented with rolling my sleeping pad and sleeping bag together and nixing the bag's compression sack. The combined rolling used less space because it fit more efficiently within my backpack's bottom compartment than two separate items. In addition to saving space, leaving the compression sack at home will save precious ounces.

• Use a smaller backpack. If I follow enough of my own advice and pack less stuff, I ought to be able to use a smaller backpack, which should save another pound or two.