Good post, Daisy. We follow most of these patterns...with two minor exceptions.

We often take a little extra food, because we sometimes decide to stay for an extra day. And we like that luxury.

And when it comes to water in the Sierra, sometimes we play it cautiously. WHile you never get extra points for arriving in camp with water in your bottles, you DO get punished for running out of water on the trail, if a creek is dry!