I am in pretty much the same boat as you. I have a nice old Gitzo Reporter aluminum tripod that is very sturdy, bit it must weigh over 10 pounds, and is bulky, no way I would attempt to bring it on a hike. On top of that, I moved across the world, and that was one of the things I just didn't have room to take. I've been borrowing this crappy little tripod from a friend, and it's better than nothing, but I really need to invest in a nice lightweight tripod. I started looking at my options shortly before I left, comparing Gitzo and Manfrotto and a few others at the local camera store. From that I decided I wanted to spend the extra money to get the Gitzo.

For a short while I was looking into getting the GT1542T, but from everything I read online it just didn't make sense to get since I plan to shoot at anything from 10 to 400mm. I started looking into the GT2541 and GT3541. From the countless reviews and forum posts I have read, it sounds like the GT2541 would probably do what I wanted, but be on the marginal side for the long exposure stuff I like to do. The GT3541 is 620g heavier (~1.36lbs), but packs up very slightly shorter, and extends 8cm higher. But then I read more, and many recommend the systematic version. I really like having the option of to use a column at times, and the column add-on for the systematic is over $200. I think I have finally decided on the GT3541L, which is the long version. With the center column removed it should be slightly shorter than the GT3541, and weigh a little less, and be usable without the column. Slight compromise on weight and packability, but at ~4lbs it should be easy to strap to my pack and take on hikes.