I agree. I'm not a particularly strong cyclist, I'm 52, 5"10" and 190lbs with a bit of a gut. I pack lightly (around 20lbs) and had no trouble riding across Western MA and the Taconic Mountains in NY during my last tour with 46/34 x 12/25 gearing. That's a lowest gear of 37". Patience and technique are as important as gearing IMHO and climbing at a reasonable tempo rather than thrashing away in a really small gear inch ratio seems to be more efficient. On really steep sections it's quite easy to get out of the saddle with only 20lbs on the bike. Having said all that I might try a rear cassette of 12/36.

So currently I have

Front Derailleur: SRAM Rival
Rear Derailleur: SRAM Rival
Cassette: SRAM PG 1070 12-25
Chain: SRAM PC 1071
Crankset: FSA Gossamer 46-34 (it came with a 50 ring, but I replace it with a Sugino 46 ring)

This give a gear range of 104" to 37"

I might try

Front Derailleur: SRAM Rival
Rear Derailleur: SRAM X9 medium cage
Cassette: SRAM PG 1070 12-36
Chain: SRAM PC 1071
Crankset: FSA Gossamer 46-34

which give 104" to 26"

Of course we could get ridiculous and try the a 10/42 11 speed cassette http://www.sram.com/sram/mountain/pr...-1195-cassette
with my 34 small ring that gives 22" and with a common touring small ring of 22 it would give 14".....I think that's too low!!!!