AlaskaMagnum-Thank you for the reply. I know you have probably more experience hunting in steep and treacherous terrain than I. I also thought about the canned food issue. That would not be something that I would want to carry in and out also. The reason I thought about bringing extra stuff in before hunting season was that if I was going to be up there anyway, why not bring some stuff up to make the last trip lighter?

However, water could be an issuse, peticularly for me. I had a kidney transplant on April 1st, and I need to have about 2 gallons of water a day when I am not doing any strenuous activity. This presents me a problem, as the area that I will be hunting will likely have no (or very little) snowpack, and the water sources are usually springs that do not actually have a good flow coming out of them. Enough water for deer, sheep, and goats, but not quite what I would want to drink, even if purified. There are some high mountain lakes up there, but not sure of drinking out of lakes either. This is why the water bottle idea came to mind. I am sure I could purify some water, but would not want to have all of my drinking water come from a source like that.

I have a small coleman camp stove that works well for hiking up in the mountains (I have used it in the area before). I also have a good sleeping bag that has seen many trips to the mountains around here. The tent I have is a Wenzel that has seen a few wind storms and will be replaced this summer. Note sure on exactly what to get. I was thinking of a Coleman backpacking tent, but not sure yet. Any suggestions?

My current day pack weighs about 12 pounds, but is a survival kit also, and a lot of the items will easily double for use in a remote camp, allowing me to combine the weight. I could scrap the shovel idea with no problem. But I just need an idea of how I would have plenty of water for a week.

Again, thanks for the reply. I knew I would have people suggest better ways, but better to get more ideas early than to learn the hard way.