Michael Gordon adds:

I met Galen in his Bishop gallery recently. We talked photo shop, and he shared with me a recent SINGLE DAY trip. In a basic summary of his words, he and an Italian photographer ran from the N Fork trailhead to Third Lake to catch sunrise on Temple Crag (with his "plastic tripod, one lens, and a couple of filters". The run took just over an hour. They then visited some friends at one of the higher lakes. He stated he would 'normally' do Swiss Arete and drop over the other side, but the Italian photographer wasn't game. So they went over Jigsaw Pass to visit some friends at Dusy Basin, and then eventually on to South Lake to a cached car. His reply to my "you didn't do too many miles that day, did you?" was "only 25 to 30".

Going light has merits. Heck, being Galen Rowell has merits.