One thing that stands out like an infected big toe is your mention of camera gear coming in at
4kg for a (perceived)
10 day hike!
Whatever that constitutes, maybe reconsider that inclusion in the undoubtedly heavyweight pack (23kg!) with something
small and lighter.; you will still have photographs of the hallowed Lake Oberon overlook. I have not traversed the Arthurs (I certainly would like to), but I have explored Mount Anne's mid- to cloud-level rainforests (4 nights) and on those twi occasions my camera gear was an old Fujifilm X-30 digital (2014 vintage, which I still have), a KSM polariser and Gitzo
Basalt CF tripod (560gm, a smidgeon heavier now with a new Arca-Swiss QR head).
Now, there is a (big!) difference between what I take on a multiday hike (a treasured Olympus XA, owned since 1982) or the X-30) versus what I take on a planned, researched, "search-and-trap" day walk: I am not a muscular walker and must by necessity keep
multi-day pack carrying down low weight-wise. Then we come to the other extreme: day walks up to 15km are quite another thing: along for the ride is a 13kg Pentax 67 MF kit (
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
), 4 lenses and three rolls of 120 film (of which everything will be scanned and printed to add to my gallery). I walk with photographers too, and the variety of equipment on day walks is as diverse as the walkers themselves, but mostly it is small mirrorless cameras or rangefinders. I think, in terms of difficult and long walks, we have sensibly moved on from the distant days when Peter Dombrovskis walked head-to-the-wind with his 27kg pack, topped off with a 5kg Linhof 4x5, three lenses, 5 holders and a polariser! As the late Melva Truchanas remarked in conversation, wryly observing the weight of his kit,
"...it was the camera that killed him!".Of latter times on MD walks I don't skimp on the protective qualities of tents — it's called
"learning from unfortunate experience";; Moondance 1 is fine for me, with the recent addition of titanium TOAKS pegs (which, along with the guylines, double as tripod column support in unstable or windy conditions). I suspect a tarp and a groundsheet is stretching the risk a bit in them thar mountains. Maybe inveterate walker Rob Blakers could offer insight into the best tent for the WAs, given his numerous trips there, along with those in coastal and rainforest areas, often with 4x5 + holders packed (but latterly a Canon digi and maybe TS-E (tilt-shift) lens.