I have been backpacking off and on since Boy Scouts at the end of the 1960s. Although at that time, it was called camping. We just had to walk 5 or 10 miles to the campsite. :))

I moved to lightweight to be able to keep up with my son when he joined Boy Scouts. Now I mostly aim for winter camping in Yosemite or the Tahoe-Donner area, spring and fall hikes in the Santa Cruz mountains, and summer trips to the Emigrant or Carson-Iceberg wilderness.