Kent:

Which lens to carry, ay, there's the rub -- I think Hamlet said that when he had to pick a lens to hike with.

I've tried but just can't get down to one lens with a DSLR. Unless it's a heavy, full-frame DSLR, you need at least an 18mm to get the wide-angle shots. And then you need a 300mm for those wildlife shots with maybe even a 2x converter for the distant ones. I haven't found a reasonably priced zoom lens that will do both of those. So I'm stuck with carrying two zoom lenses.

I'm like a broken record on this, but for a 14-day trek I believe the keyhole camera harness is the best thing since sliced bread. I used it for a snoeshow hike a couple weeks ago where poles are a necessity, and I could grab the camera off my chest and shoot the shot with a minimum of effort. Everyone who's seen the thing asks about it and is impressed by its ease of use.

Kent, that Image Stabilization lens, especially when zoomed out for telephoto shots, is a great thing -- and something I don't have (for the telephoto one.) And now you can get the new Canon T1i with the two (18-55mm & 55-250mm) IS lenses as a kit from places like Best Buy and Costco for a fairly reasonable price (if you call $900 a fairly reasonable price.) I just can't afford to get the new model every 18 months or so.