Currently I haul my Nikon D300 and usually a Nikon 16-85 VRII lens around when doing day walks. However, it's big. When doing multi day walks I resort to using my Ricoh CX-1 P&S.
Both cameras annoy me for their shortcomings, albeit for different reasons, crappy quality from the Ricoh and the weight space of the D300
I am looking to find something with significantly less weight and size then my D300 gear.
I had thought of getting a smaller older (or newer) dSLR camera eg a Nikon D40X and using my lens (smaller and lighter but lets not get two carried away, still BULKY ! and I am restricted to lens with a built in focus motor) so I have counted this out, it;s still way too bulky. I wils stick with the D300 on day trips
A new p&S style compact, with manual controls, such as the upcoming Nikon P7000 (use my speedlights with it and I assume some of UI from dSLRs will flow through, particularly with nomenclature so getting up to speed should be quicker !) or the Panasonic LX5, both have some appeal. I am still not enamoured of the low light performance and the compromises of the small sensor size. The LX5 has some advantages, the P7000 some advantages. I use A and S mode nearly exclusively on my D300, though I don't see as much need for controlling my aperture on the smaller cameras as there is no DOF available ie no bokeh etc
or some sort of EVIL (Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens) camera, such as the upcoming Samsung NX100 with the 20-50 lens. It is bigger then say the LX5 but the sensor is bigger, there is no image stabilastion, which is a bit of a bummer as I didn't want to have to take a tripod on multi day walks and would have benefited from a decent stabilastion system.
So, at the moment it has come down to the Nikon P7000; UI familiarity, ability to use my speedlights, good reach, crappy wide angle. the Panasonic LX5; small size, nice wideangle, poor reach. Samsung NX100 bigger but not much bigger then Nikon P7000, much bigger sensor should perform well at higher ISO's, no stabilisation.
I am interested in the thoughts of those who are into photography with their walking, in particular and if there is anything I have perhaps not considered ?