203 pounds is wild man, I felt that same gut punch when my 15 year old box hit 180 and I still knew where every scratch came from.

Guess I've been cleaning the wrong side for a decade too.

I did the desert in 21 which was a bad year and the caches were pretty much bone dry by May. What saved me was carrying 7 liters out of every source and just accepting the extra weight, plus I'd tank up at any spigot or faucet in town even if it meant a detour. Night hiking was huge for me too, start around 2am when it's cool so you're not sweating out all your water. The 38 mile dry stretch near Tehachapi is real and people get in trouble out there, so plan for the worst and treat every cache as empty.