Red River Gorge (Kentucky) Backpacking - January 2020

The second hike of the 2020 backpacking season, and my second ever winter trip, kicked off in late January. Two hikes in January 2020...?! If I keep this up I may just get accused of actually liking winter backpacking trips! (No... not yet, anyway). For this trip I once again got together with Travis, and we joined up with the Andy and Kevin Schill from the Youtube channel ‘Schill Brothers Outdoors’, to do a relatively low-mileage hike in the Red River Gorge Geological Area southeast of Lexington, Kentucky. The Schill Brothers also put together a video of our hike. You can view it here:    • Backpacking & Bourbon: Battling Cold & Rai...  . You can also check out their ‘Schill Brothers Outdoors’ YouTube channel at:    / @schillbrothersoutdoors   The trip was a 3-day, 2-night trip covering about 10 miles total. Our plan was to meet up the afternoon of the first day at the Gray’s Arch Trail trailhead, and then hike in about a mile to set up camp somewhere near Gray’s Arch. Then on day 2 we would check out the Gray’s Arch area, hike about 5 miles on the Rough Trail over to an unofficial trail that goes out to Hanson’s Point, and set up our 2nd night’s camp somewhere near Hanson’s Point. On the third day we would finish the hike following the Sheltowee Trace back to the cars. Unlike the relatively balmy weather we had for the season’s first early-January hike at Big South Fork, this hike definitely had a more winter-like feel to it. Highs were in the low 40’s with wind and a bone chilling rain, and the morning of the third day it got down into the mid-20’s. That’s ‘brrrr’ conditions for this reluctant winter hiker! But to ward off the chills, or perhaps simply make us not be as concerned about it, there was plenty of good Kentucky bourbon to be had. Travis and the Schill Brothers had made a stop at the historic Buffalo Trace Distillery on the trip down, and stocked up on plenty of ‘goodies’ from the BT gift shop. As you'll probably notice the subtitle for this video could certainly have been ‘The Backpacking and Bourbon Tour’! For those who have watched my other videos this one is done in the same style - about 45 minutes in length, intended to bring the audience along for the 'ride', and with a still picture slide show with music at the end. If you just have a few minutes skip to the end and enjoy the pictures. Equipment / Gear List: Still and Video Camera: Nikon Z6 https://amzn.to/3dHJvni Lens: Nikkor 24mm f1.8 Z-mount lens https://amzn.to/2QZqNOo Tripod: Sirui T-025X carbon fiber tripod https://amzn.to/3bH3Rvg Camera shoulder clip: Peak Designs Capture clip system https://amzn.to/2wRdusp Video Editing Software: Vegas Pro 16 https://amzn.to/2X5dKyu Pack: REI Flash 55 Tent: Nemo Meta2P Sleeping Bag: Zpacks 20degF Sleeping Bag Sleeping Pad: Therm-A-Rest NeoAir X-Therm https://amzn.to/2yjrUlj Sleeping Pad: Therm-A-Rest NeoAir XLite https://amzn.to/39zju6v Pillow: Exped Air Pillow UL https://amzn.to/2WYE5hZ Stove: JetBoil Flash https://amzn.to/3azKRi7 Stove: MSR PocketRocket 2 https://amzn.to/3dPtOL5 Pot: MSR Titan titanium 0.9L kettle https://amzn.to/3bF1RDB Headlamp: Black Diamond Spot https://amzn.to/2R0JvoW Buff: Merino wool Buff https://amzn.to/3dCYHSC Recharging Battery: Anker 3500mAH ‘lipstick’ charger https://amzn.to/2URI7G3 Camp Chair: Helonix Chair Zero https://amzn.to/2xzbwgh Camp Shoes: Xero Shoes Z-Trek https://amzn.to/3bA3X7I Wet Wipes: Survivorware Wet Wipes https://amzn.to/2JwbQ2e