"What's your base weight?"

Yes, I do want to be comfortable and have a light pack but the amount of time and stress than can be spent to cut every last ounce is overwhelming.

            (Seth's about 18 pounds)

We did the best we could by investing in light weight gear and putting so much time into picking the best. Once I loaded my pack, it felt light but not super light and I was slightly disappointed. 

             (Amy's about 14 pounds)

Our friend Colin did the PCT last year so he helped us out and completely 'wolverined' our packs. It was then apparent that the saying "ounces add up to pounds and pounds add up to pain" is relevant and we should seriously cut some ounces.  

We began by cutting off the handle of our cups... To save maybe an ounce. Then we took the following out of our packs; 2 solar chargers, heavy rain jackets, my camera case, the stove case, 2 head lamps, heavy stuff saks, my leatherman...

We went to Next Adventure and REI for our LAST trip and bought petzl e-lite headlamps, a sog knife to replace my leatherman, and light weight stuff saks. 

Making those little changes saved us a pound or two. We don't want to obsess over the exact weight because we will figure it out as we go and can send stuff home if we want to, but it is definitely nice to have a lighter pack now!