I finally got a chance to get in a decent 32 mile section hike on the AT from Cheshire, MA, to Bennington, VT this past weekend. It was a good chance to test some new gear, including a new ZPacks Plexamid Beta V and a brand new pair of Cascadia 14 shoes. Unfortunately, I only got a chance to set it up once (stayed in a shelter the first night), but so far I’m liking it quite a bit. I’m kind of new to the AT (most of my backpacking has been done out west in the Rockies), but everything worked out pretty well, including my Berghaus Hyper jacket (87 g). Weather was pretty nice, highs around 70 and lows around 50, with a couple thunderstorms / rain. Trails were incredibly muddy, though. My shoes were totally covered in mud and no longer new in about 5 miles. I now understand why it’s called “Vermud.” Anyway, I’ll probably do a follow up post-hike gear talk vid soon, but here’s a video montage of the trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgtI21gV7Jw
And here’s the gearlist:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sMK9mLgsQY9CUCMmo5VL5dmZbqDhJJQjqN3m7i-GA90/edit?usp=sharing
As a side note, I’m really liking the Shure MV88 microphone for nature sounds. At 1.44 oz, it is pretty lightweight and helps complement the RX100V for cinematic video/audio. It plugs straight into your iPhone and is easy to use with the Shure Motiv app. Anyway, watch the video and let me know what you think of the audio. About half of the sounds were recorded with the mic, the other half culled from online sources. Enjoy!
