Serendipitously during our trip to Seattle, I walked by the North Face store and picked up the Angstrom 28 on sale for $95.
http://www.thenorthface.com/webapp/w...atalogId=10201
Managed to take it on the trek into the Ape Caves and on the Grouse Grind. Very comfortable, and just the right size.
I am quite happy it still smells good after the Grouse Grind. For a fairly shady hike, I managed to sweat about 2 litres of fluid. The weird thing about that hike is not feeling any desire to drink or eat on the way up. I felt absolutely like throwing up whenever I thought I should drink some water.
Ape Caves were awesome. Highly recommended. We did the lower and upper sections. Upper section was rough with all of the scrambling over sharp basalt and pumice, and carrying my daughter around was awkward. My son had no issues, except that he tripped after coming out of the cave. It took about 4 hours to complete, and you have to backtrack twice. The cave isn't as well lit as it looks. It is pitch dark, and only really lit up like that becuase of the camera. Otherwise, you're just relying on the headlamps to illuminate the path directly in front of you.
Pics below.