Shoutout to the guy on the Eagle Rock Loop who told me my pack was sitting too high
I did the 26 mile loop in Arkansas two weekends ago and a guy at the campsite near Little Missouri Falls asked me why my shoulders were so wrecked by mile 8. He said my hip belt was riding above my hip bones so the weight was all on my shoulders, and after I dropped it down two inches the rest of the trip felt like a totally different hike. Has anyone else had someone point out something that simple and felt kind of dumb for not catching it sooner?
That moment when you drop the belt and feel the pack settle onto your hips is wild, like a 20 pound weight just disappeared from your shoulders. The tricky part is that most packs creep back up over a few miles, so I check mine at every water stop now and tighten the belt before the shoulder straps. It's a bummer nobody teaches this stuff before your first big loop.