MOUNTAIN LOG HIKER EXTRAORDINAIRE 77 His 55-litre Arc Blast backpack from Zpacks weighs only 565g. It has two side-pouches in which he stores his Skyflask water bottle and camera. He uses a Zpacks waterproof pack liner to protect the contents of his backpack, a useful extra layer in wet weather. The contents include the aforementioned 10-litre trail-running rucksack for ‘out and backs.’ NAVIGATING For navigating in poor visibility, Aidan uses a Silva Type 4/54 compass; he carries two in case he loses one. Besides the physical maps mentioned earlier, he has mapping software on his phone, but just as a backup. “I have a brilliant Garmin smartwatch – a gift from my wife Emily,” Aidan adds. “It tells me the distance I’ve hiked – it is metre-perfect – and it checks my heart rate, too. I have to keep my heart rate down to 100–130 beats per minute, because pushing it above that poses risks.” Aidan’s articles are always accompanied by great photos. What camera does he use? “I’ve a Nikon compact camera and I use the timer to include myself in photos, but now I take most of my photos with my phone. The camera software on smartphones these days is brilliant, especially in low light. Pictured this page: Selfie on a wet day on Mullaghcleevaun in the Wicklow Mountains in May 2024, showing his wet weather gear. This photo was taken on day 26 of his Vandeleur-Lynam Mountains through-hike. Photo: Aidan Ennis “I completed my Mountain Leader in 1996. You need this training for real confidence in navigating. But I am so used to navigating now, I do it almost instinctively.”
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