This post may get more replies if it were moved. This long distance topic does not get much traffic. By "long distance" we usually mean months- like the Pacific Crest Trail. One week really is not considered "extended" backpacking.

It does not matter how strong or tough you are- lighten the load and you will hike faster, go farther and have more energy for other essential tasks. The point is not that are you able to carry 60 pounds, why would you want to?

You do not need lots of pots to cook nice meals. One pot and maybe one fry pan is enough. Be sure the pot has a tight fitting lid. Size the pot to fit the number of people you will feed. I use the Snow-Peak titanium nesting set. To feed myself I use a different "solo pot" - looks like an oversized cup. To feed two I use the smallest of the nesting set. To feed three I use medium pot, to feed four, the largest pot. I suspect with two big guys, you may choose the medium pot. I boil a full pot of water and use about half for pre-dinner soup. I then add a little more water, bring to a boil, add food, cook and stir a bit, put on lid, turn off stove, let sit 5-minutes, eat. The small "wait" saves fuel because food will still hydrate in hot water even after you turn off the stove. Some people bring a little "pot blanket" called a "cozy" to keep the food warmer. After we eat, I clean out the pot with cold water, and we boil up some more water for hot drinks, like coca. For desert we eat non-cook stuff like dark chcolate, cookies or gormet cheese. We only take a frying pan if we are fishing.

You really do not need individual plates or bowls. We simply spoon our food out of the communal pot. My husband eats faster than I do, so I get the short end of that stick! One communal pot for 4 people is a bit more awkward. For 4, I prefer to break the group into two cook groups of two.

So here's our set-up: 1 pot with lid, 1 spoon per person, 1 small cup per person + one small frying pan with lid if we fish. That's it. I have used this set-up for 30 days straight.