Gear Review: Marmot Aquifer 24 Daypack

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Marmot Aquifer 24
Marmot Aquifer 24

Daypack
Marmot Aquifer 24
$129, 24L/1,465 c.i., 1 lb. 11 oz. (without Hydrapak reservoir, included)
One size
marmot.com

Wear a daypack for enough hours and you will know—maybe better than you want to—whether you love it, like it, or might chuck it off a cliff. I hauled Marmot’s Aquifer 24 hydration pack on a couple of ultra-hikes on opposite ends of the country, in very different terrain and climates: a 17-mile, 6,800-foot, 15-hour, June dayhike over four summits in the Northern Presidential Range in New Hampshire, and a 25-mile, roughly 4,000-foot, 12-hour, late-May dayhike off the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, to take a full measure of the Aquifer’s comfort and functionality.

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Johns Hopkins Inlet, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska.

Photo Gallery: Sea Kayaking Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park

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By Michael Lanza

When John Muir visited Alaska’s Glacier Bay in 1879, he wrote that, at night, “the surge from discharging icebergs churned the water into silver fire.” On a five-day, guided sea-kayaking trip in the upper West Arm of Glacier Bay, probing deep within a national park the size of Connecticut, my family explored a wilderness that remains one of the few places left on Earth that resemble what the planet looked like right after the last Ice Age. We saw sea otters, seals, sea lions, mountain goats, bald eagles, puffins, and countless other birds, and a brown bear wandering the beach (as well as bear scat that convinced us to choose another campsite). We listened to the concussive explosions of enormous chunks of ice calving from giant glaciers into the sea. I consider it one of my top 10 adventures ever, and our campsite for two nights on Johns Hopkins Inlet is one of my 25 favorite backcountry campsites.

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Gear Review: Arc’teryx Acrux2 FL GTX and Acrux FL Hiking Shoes

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Arc’teryx Acrux2 FL GTX Approach Shoe
Arc’teryx Acrux2 FL GTX Approach Shoe

Hiking/Approach Shoes
Arc’teryx Acrux2 FL GTX Approach Shoe
$280, 2 lbs. 3 oz. (men’s 9)
Sizes: men’s 7-14, women’s (Acrux FL GTX, $230) 5-12
moosejaw.com

Arc’teryx Acrux FL
$200, 1 lb. 14 oz. (men’s 9)
Sizes: men’s 7-14, women’s 5-12
moosejaw.com

Is it possible for a shoe to be everything you need in backcountry footwear—and if so, what’s that worth? Those are the questions raised by Arc’teryx’s new Acrux2 FL GTX Approach Shoe and Acrux FL—both very “Arc’teryx” in their shoot-for-the-moon design and price. In pursuit of answers to those questions, I took both out on hikes intended to put the claims about these shoes to the test: ultralight backpacking the very rugged Royal Arch Loop in the Grand Canyon in the Acrux2 FL GTX, and dayhiking 17 miles through New Hampshire’s Northern Presidential Range, and Zion’s steep and scrambly Angels Landing, in the Acrux FL.

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Ponytail Falls, Columbia Gorge, Oregon.

Photo Gallery: A Big Day in the Columbia Gorge

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By Michael Lanza

To some hikers, the Rock of Ages Trail on the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge will feel like the supreme challenge, a gauntlet thrown down; to others, it could seem like a cruel joke. My friend Geoff Sears and I hiked on the balls of our feet much of the way up this crazily steep, unmaintained goat path—which climbs more than 2,000 vertical feet in one stretch of less than two miles—at times scrabbling along narrow spines of vegetation-cloaked rock where a slip could send us toppling downward through dense rainforest.

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Gear Review: Oboz Switchback Hiking Shoes

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Oboz Switchback
Oboz Switchback

Hiking Shoes
Oboz Switchback
$120, 2 lbs. (men’s 9)
Sizes: men’s 8-14, women’s 6-11
obozfootwear.com

What should you look for in shoes for dayhiking? The answer may be more complicated than you think, which might help explain why some hikers struggle to find the right footwear. For most dayhikes, no matter the distance, I want lightweight, low-cut shoes that deliver moderate support, plenty of forefoot flex to allow a natural stride, and as much breathability as possible—to keep my feet cool and comfortable and help prevent blisters. On long dayhikes, those attributes—especially the breathability—become even more critical. On a 25-mile, 11-hour, roughly 4,000-foot dayhike in the Grand Canyon in May, the Switchback came through for me on all of those counts.

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