Solo Winter Backpacking Trip - The Road to Saratoga inspireAson 2014-04-07 | Solo Winter Backpacking trips are slowly becoming one of my favorite ways to escape. A snow covered landscape allows me to go almost anywhere I desire. The snow dampens all sounds, provides an ever present (well almost) water source, and gives the surroundings a new-found beauty.Why did I embark on this journey?I hiked the 211 mile John Muir trail last summer and it was an amazing experience. I still can't quite wrap my head around the idea of hiking that far without crossing a road or seeing any signs of civilization. I started to wonder what other areas in the United States could offer the same experience. Since I grew up in Wyoming, the least populated state, I figured it would be a good place to start. The longest stretch I could think of realistically doing without ignoring private property was from Centennial to Saratoga. There is a road between the two towns and they close it during the winter. It's 45 miles long. It's an area I've frequented for the past several years and I wanted to explore it some more. It is home to my first-ever backpacking trip, first winter camping trip, and much more. I never really explored the whole area. I stuck to the places I became familiar with. I was intrigued by what was beyond the peaks that you see early in this video. Do snowmobilers travel the whole distance? Or do they stop at the peaks too? Will I see lots of man-made things, or will they be covered in snow? Will it be like the John Muir trail where I felt completely immersed in nature? Will there be lots of non-natural noise? I really believed that after the first 15 miles or so, it would be just me out there. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The whole time I was on snow, I saw snowmobilers. The first day, I saw TONS. The second day, I saw 5-10. Late in the second day I learned that the road that I thought was closed most of the way into Saratoga, actually wasn't. In fact, about 25 miles of the 45 mile stretch was open. Once I hit the road I didn't see a soul......okay, I actually saw about 5 cars over the course of a day and a half, but it felt like I didn't see anybody. It was really funny to me that I saw fewer people on an open road than in the middle of National forest land with poor winter access. Overall, I found that this wasn't at all like the John Muir trail. However, the feelings I experienced on both thru hikes were similar. The middle of the trip is always hard, and so is the last day. Hiking on the road wasn't my ideal way to spend days away from work, but you know what? It wasn't that bad. In the video there are quite a few clips where I have a negative attitude. I filmed those moments intentionally because I think every trip has its ups and downs. I really enjoyed the whole trip and tried to give a fairly honest view of where I really was emotionally. The first day was perfect. The second day was perfect, but I got down on myself once I hit the open road. I camped at the first spot off of the road that made sense to camp at, and I didn't really like the spot. It turned out to be one of the best spots I've ever camped in. It totally blew away my expectations. A beautiful sunset, calm night, and a welcoming morning caught me off guard. I loved it! The third day was all road time. I actually wanted to put in a fourth day, but I realized that I wasn't going to be able to camp anywhere remotely good. I'd have to camp right off of the shoulder of the road with no protection whatsoever and no easy water source. I put in over 20 miles to get into Saratoga. The last clip you see is the last thing I filmed. It wasn't the last hill. There were about 2 more hills with a long 8 mile downhill into the town. I would have filmed more, but it wouldn't have been fun to watch. The landscape was flat, windy and barren. I was physically exhausted, and was down on the fact that I really didn't have a good camping option. I knew that would be the case from my planning, but was ignorant and thought, "I'll just improvise. I'm sure there will be something." There wasn't.I went out with the intent to make a great video. I got out there and it went to the bottom of my priority list. I was either having too much fun and wanted to enjoy the moment, or was sick of hiking on the road and didn't want to film. When I came back and looked at the footage I wondered if I even should make a video. I think there's some good stuff, so I hope you do too. That's why I'm sharing. I really hope this makes you smile, frown, wonder why, or feel something. Let's face it, we've all been here (without actually being HERE). I hope I captured enough from the spectrum of emotions we all feel to make it relatable. After all, without the challenges and successes, it wouldn't be worth doing at all. If you hate this video, let me know. If you enjoy it, share it, like it and let me know. I really don't know what I think of this video yet. I'm really counting on your feedback here. Anything you have to say will be very much appreciated :-)
Fishing for Golden Trout in the Wind River Range inspireAson 2021-05-26 | In 2018 a coworker and I set out to catch golden trout in Wyoming's Wind River range. What does that have to do with the Cougar cup? You'll just have to watch to find out.
Make it Memorable - Go Outside inspireAson 2016-12-12 | If you spend time outdoors, then the outdoors will make your time memorable. What do you remember about your last trip outdoors?
Via Ferrata - Telluride inspireAson 2016-09-07 | Breathtaking POV footage of the main event of Telluride's Via ferrata.Watch more Colorado Climbing Vids: http://bit.ly/2c2LPVNLike this? Subscribe for more: http://bit.ly/1l49SbeMy friend and I headed down to Telluride, Colorado to traverse a cliff band high above town on one of the few Via Ferrata routes in the United States. The beginning is in honor of Chuck Kroger who died shortly after creating the route due to pancreatic cancer. The fleeting images of my friend are to remind us to reflect on Chuck's contribution to the community. I hope you enjoy this overview of Telluride's Via ferrata. It was a lot of fun to traverse, and I hope I captured a sliver of what the experience is really like. As always, thanks for watching. I'm excited to hear what you think. :) - Chris
Solo Backpacking Trip - Rawah Wilderness inspireAson 2016-07-01 | A quick 12 mile solo backpacking trip in ColoradoWatch the other Colorado Backpacking Videos here: bit.ly/1NGv7HfConsider subscribing for more: http://bit.ly/1l49SbeThis video is pretty rare for me. In fact, I probably (hopefully) will not make a video this long in a long time (pun intended). It's really a behind the scenes look at what I think about during most of my solo trips. I tried to record as much of my thinking as possible. I hope you enjoy this unique look at my solo backpacking trips.The tent review was for Matt Miller. Here's his channel: youtube.com/channel/UCg_WvoVIhgodIvgHJwGi-0AMatt only has one upload, but as far as I can tell he seems like a really awesome dude and has a kid the same age as mine, so wanted to make a tent review for him. Matt, I hope it was something along the lines of what you were looking for. On my solo backpacking trip on Memorial day, I really wanted to get away from the crowds. That's why I headed to the Rawah Wilderness in Colorado. The wilderness is really hard to get to, so I figured it would be my best shot at getting away from every other person enjoying the long weekend. It's not that I don't enjoy hanging out with people, because I do. I just don't like huge crowds of people that I don't know camping right next to me. The Rawah Wilderness turned out to be the perfect spot for a quick solo overnight backpacking trip in Colorado. I added all of the moose info in the video, because I REALLY wanted to see a moose. I REALLY thought I had a moose sighting in the bag. However, I ended up not seeing any wildlife at all really. I can't even recall seeing a squirrel and saw only a few birds. The irony is that I saw a friend's picture from Rocky Mountain National Park and he saw a moose from the road. You just never know. I really like backpacking by myself. It helps me escape and I feel like it forces me into a simpler state of existence. I'm privileged enough not to have to worry about survival most of the time, but out away from civilization I am brought back to that predator/prey mindset. It's certainly uneasy at times, but it also helps me strip away the excess of everyday life. Although it probably seems strange to say, it's quite calming. I hope you enjoy this extended, raw, mostly unedited, look into what I go through on a typical solo backpacking trip. Thanks for watching, and I hope you find some entertainment value along the journey. :) - Chris
Arches National Park - Americas Great Sights inspireAson 2016-06-07 | A beautiful Arches National Park sight-seeing trip with the Bro'd TripWatch the outdoor videos I love most here: http://bit.ly/1ISDX7ODon't miss an adventure! Consider subscribing: http://bit.ly/1l49SbeThough I have visited Moab, Utah several times, I didn't make it to Arches National Park until really recently. This video captures my first tour of the park with Justin and Adam from the Bro'd Trip. Arches is incredible and it's hard to believe that a landscape could be naturally sculpted like Arches is. The park seemed pretty small compared to other national parks I have been to, but it certainly was worth it. We got in for free for the 100th anniversary of the national parks service. As far as the Bro'd trip goes, I wanted to make this video for them to help them get exposure. Personally I believe they are producing entertaining videos that show some of the coolest places in the United States. Their YouTube channel is fairly new, so I'm hoping to help people find their content. I feel they deserve it. I haven't made it through a vlog of theirs without laughing, and that's awesome. Please check out their channel, drop a comment letting them know I sent you, and if you like what you see, please subscribe. It's always nice knowing you're producing content for an audience that is waiting to watch your next video.Here's the link to their channel: http://bit.ly/1UDcFogYou can find links to their other social properties in their channel art.I really wanted to promote Justin and Adam's channel, because I like what they're doing. So if this video seems like a promotion, that's because it is. However, they did not pay me to make this or provide any other incentive to make this video. In fact, they didn't even ask me to make it. They're doing a great job, I wanted to support them, and our visit together to Arches seemed like a great time to spread the word about the cool adventures they're choosing to share with us on their channel. As my channel develops, I want to take opportunities to try to help people out who are doing cool things. Of course, it's up to all of you as to whether or not videos like this actually do help. While it's not necessary to have a big channel to make movies and have fun, a few subscribers definitely help. I hope you'll accept my invitation to virtually join Justin and Adam's year-long journey living the van life. I did meet up with them for a work-related trip, but shot this video on my own time on the weekend. As always, thank you for the support and thank you for watching. :) - ChrisMusic: "Purple Yellow Red & Blue (Mosaicked Remix)" by Mosaickidsoundcloud.com/mosaickid/purple-yellow-red-blueThe music has been used under the following creative commons license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Colorado Backcountry Skiing - Scrupulous inspireAson 2016-02-25 | A ski bum reunites with an old friend and things aren't the same.Watch the outdoor videos I love most here: http://bit.ly/1ISDX7ODon't miss an adventure! Consider subscribing: http://bit.ly/1l49SbeA ski bum reunites with an old friend for a day of skiing in the Colorado backcountry and becomes envious of the ski gear his friend's corporate lifestyle affords. An unexpected gesture from the ski bum's friend helps them both recognize that happiness doesn't necessarily relate to how you earn your living.This was my first dive into narrative storytelling and I'd like to list the goals I hoped to achieve, as well as the devices I used to try and achieve them.From my initial brainstorming session for the story I wrote a question for myself that asked, "Who wants to hear this story?"I answered that question with:"Ski bums want to hear it because it elevates their lifestyle, while making the struggles seem worth earning a badge of respect." In other words, I didn't want to over-glamorize the ski bum lifestyle. I've seen too many movies where the carefree lifestyle wins entirely without any drawbacks. While I think there's a part of all of us that wishes we could be a ski bum, I think we all intuitively understand that there are inherent drawbacks to choosing a lifestyle like that. It's certainly not easy and carefree. I didn't want the drawbacks to seem negative, but I also didn't want to tell a story that completely ignored the possible downsides of being a ski bum.AND"People with a 9-5 job like it because it reminds them that there’s nothing wrong with working hard to support short bursts of adventure." Too often I hear people who just want to live the perfect adventure. What's wrong with working hard and making the most of your weekends? Based off of these two ideas, I started trying to craft my story.Some other smaller points were:I wanted to capture the story in a way that illustrated that both people wanted to do what they felt was the right thing, but what is the right thing? I didn't want either character to be so set in their ways that they couldn't see how their friend's lifestyle might be superior. I felt it would assist the story to try to capture the awkwardness that can occur when people meet up with an old friend. There's always the question of "Oh, what are you up to now?" As petty as it can be, it's nearly impossible to walk away from a conversation about what you do for a living without trying to compare or relate your career to your friends' career. You want the best for your buddy, but you don't want to feel like a complete failure after hearing what they do for a living, either.Lastly, I wanted to show how we have a tendency to be materialistic. BUT, why be materialistic when having gear that is worn but still works is an awesome thing? Incorporating the gloves was inspired by this idea.So, here are tools I focused on to try to tell the story:The first thing that I hoped would jump out is how the two friends pull up to meet each other. The cars pull in "Head-to-head." Cars never park like that at the trailhead. I shot it this way to emphasize their two lifestyles colliding. I wanted a "this vs that" feel, and the peak in the background is what brings them together, but also what separates them. The business-oriented character takes the lead up the mountain, but quickly you see that the ski bum overtakes his friend as they enter into his domain. For the rest of the story, the ski bum is always the leading the way as they skin up for another run. He's also the first person to come down (except when he needs to offer his friend a helping hand). You'll notice by the end of the movie they're standing on the same side of the frame to subconsciously emphasize that they have come together and realized their differences aren't worth making a big deal over.The focus on the gloves served several purposes. The first was to develop empathy for the ski bum. Here's a guy who skis every day for a living and he has crappy gear. That sucks. To make it worse, his friend notices and is a little bit of a jerk and says, "Maybe you should get a new pair." How would you feel in that situation? Probably pretty small, right? I tried to make the corporate friend stand higher on the hill to emphasize the power difference. Later the empathy shifts when you realize that the corporate friend is actually a good guy who wants to help his friend, but he's just been consumed by superficial details that don't matter. If the ski bum accepts the gloves, it would feel like the ski bum accepted the superficial details as being meaningful, but he's a good man who realizes that the gear is not what it's about after all (even though he did really like his friends skis). I hope you enjoy the film. Let me know what you think. It's a departure from what I usually do, but it's closer to the types of films I ultimately hope to create.Thanks for watching. :) - Chris
We Share Adventure - Channel Trailer inspireAson 2015-12-15 | The outdoors holds something special for each of us. Watch the outdoor videos I love most here: http://bit.ly/1ISDX7ODon't miss an adventure! Consider subscribing: http://bit.ly/1l49SbeThe great outdoors can challenge people of any skill level and become exciting for anyone who dares to be adventurous. My son and I embark on regular adventures and we hope to share the stories from those adventures in a new, engaging, and refreshing way.
The Colorado Trail & Backpacking Mistakes inspireAson 2015-11-05 | Join an awe-inspiring 100 mile thru-hike of the Colorado trail. Watch the outdoor videos I love most here: http://bit.ly/1ISDX7ODon't miss an adventure! Consider subscribing: http://bit.ly/1l49SbeWe would have never hiked the Colorado trail if it wasn't for our 200 mile thru hike of the John Muir Trail in 2013. The Colorado Trail is perhaps the most incredible multi-use trail in Colorado's Rocky Mountains. After the JMT, we knew it was next on our list.Andy and I embarked on the John Muir Trail in 2013 and at the time it was by far the biggest backpacking trip either of us had ever done. I had done one 3 day backpacking trip prior to the JMT and Andy had completed a handful of overnight backpacking trips. We headed out not knowing what to expect, and came back knowing that we wanted to do a longer backpacking trip once a summer. This was our longer backpacking trip for 2015. We always end the trips joking about how much we hate hiking. Kids have never written "Hiking" as their favorite sport on a 1st grade project. That's something to think about. An older gentleman from Houston joked, "Hiking is a great sport except for the walking." That idea pretty much sums up how we feel about it. The walking makes you sore. The sleep isn't like what you'd get at home. Sometimes difficult challenges come up. Despite all of that, we always look back on our experiences knowing that the time was totally worth it.Enough about all that. Now some notes on the video itself:This video is an experiment in storytelling for me. I've found it to be difficult to craft a really good story around a hiking trip where you have no idea what's going to happen ahead of time. Hiking seems kind of uneventful and any great story has to have a main character who experiences challenges, so how do you capture that naturally? In my Rocky Mountain National Park video, the hail, daily rainstorms, and big elevation gains just worked out. I felt those weather elements made it somewhat interesting to watch...but I didn't want to depend on "getting lucky" (or unlucky) with the challenges on the Colorado trail. I wondered if I could take my past backpacking challenges and work them into the Colorado trail video. By doing this, I knew what the challenges of the story would be ahead of time, so I could focus on the important elements while out on the trail. I picked 3 of my favorite hiking stories where I had some unfortunate events. I wanted to have it jump back and forth between Andy and I telling the story to show that we chose to remember (or forget) certain details, but both sides paint the whole picture. For example, I wanted to leave out that I fell in the river and have Andy be sure to highlight that detail. I wanted to make a subtle connection that bad things have happened in the past, and they could happen in the future. I thought this might build some tension.There's a stark difference in color grading because I wanted it to be absolutely clear which stories were accounts of past events and what memories were being made currently on the Colorado Trail. The past events are desaturated, to symbolize an old memory. The Colorado Trail footage is overly saturated to symbolize a vivid new experience. The last time-lapsed portion, toward the very end, is somewhere in between to symbolize a fading memory flying by as we reflected about our time on the trail. I left out any significant stories that may have happened on the trail, because I wanted to leave it up to the imagination. What stories are there from the trail that you haven't heard yet? The concept came into being after a call with my brother where I was trying to find what parts of backpacking were relatable to almost everyone. He mentioned the memories that you make with people outdoors tend to increase as you spend more time outside...And that the best stories happen when you push yourself and go further. The "Go further" part stuck and decided that I wanted to make a story about why we "Go Further" even after facing some harder times on past trips. "The best stories come when we go further."Thanks for watching (& reading if you're this far along). :) - Chris-------------------------------------Related Videos:Backpacking In Colorado - Fall Hike At Kenosha Passyoutu.be/xig7LzI1i-cSolo Winter Backpacking Tripyoutu.be/EqE1C6jBjws-------------------------------------
United Airlines Flight 409 Crash inspireAson 2015-10-06 | Wreckage from United Airlines Flight 409 still in the Snowys! Wow!Watch the other outdoor videos I love most here: http://bit.ly/1ISDX7ODon't miss an adventure! Consider subscribing: http://bit.ly/1l49SbeMedicine Bow Peak and the Snowy Range Mountains have always been one of my favorite spots to visit. It wasn't long after my first visit to the area that I heard about a plane that crashed into the mountains decades earlier. The plane was a United airlines plane given the flight number 409. It sounded mysterious and I have always wondered exactly where it had crashed. My curiosity only intensified when I heard that wreckage remained in the area from the crash. I kept postponing my search for the wreckage because I always have plenty of other trips I want to accomplish in the area. However, now seemed like the perfect time to find it. Today marks the 60th anniversary of the plane crash in the Snowy's and I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the event. At the time, United Airlines Flight 409 was the deadliest plane crash in American commercial aviation history. To me it's not too surprising after you understand how rugged the terrain is. The terrain in the Snowys is very harsh, but that's part of the reason why I love it. However, I'd be lying if I said I always felt 100% safe, secure, and comfortable in the area. The crash had me thinking, "Why do I even bother coming to places like this." As much as I'd love to lie to everyone and say it's always the best time of my life, I have personally faced some tough challenges in these mountains. In fact, I'm fairly certain I had hypothermia on my first backpacking trip in these very mountains due to a rookie mistake on my part.The beauty of the mountains and the experiences they've given me are things I wouldn't trade for anything else. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families that were affected by the crash, and especially to the families that are still reminded of their loss. I can't even imagine what it must have been like to get the news. I knew I wanted to get shots of a bird flying into the mountain (or at least looking like it flew into the mountain) to symbolize the crash. I was having no luck finding any birds in the area and the couple that I did see were not flying anywhere near the area I needed them to fly to get the perspective I wanted. It was starting to get dark. It was raining/sleeting and I hadn't found any wreckage yet. About to give up I took a few last steps and startled a flock of birds and got the shot I wanted. Although I didn't count, it seemed like there were probably about 66. I couldn't help but make the connection. Shortly after getting that shot I stumbled across all the wreckage. It was a powerful experience in one of the most powerful areas I've ever had the opportunity to visit. I hope you enjoy this film. Thanks for watching. - Chris-------------------------------------Related Videos:Overnight Backpacking Trip In Wyoming - Worth It?youtu.be/cDUWSYkgv4c?list=PLW05v53fSWmBgslc--3o7Hb3X47H1u23YSolo Winter Backpacking Trip - The Road To Saratogayoutu.be/EqE1C6jBjws?list=PLW05v53fSWmBgslc--3o7Hb3X47H1u23Y-------------------------------------Piano : Deep : Space by Paul Tyan is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Sigma Sample Footage - 50mm 1.4 Art Lens inspireAson 2015-06-18 | Find joy when you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself.Watch more videos of me & my son: http://bit.ly/1ThfzNBDon't miss an adventure! Consider subscribing: http://bit.ly/1l49SbeAll of the sample footage was shot using a new Sigma 50mm HSM art lens. I headed down to the bike path along the river to capture a few shots of my son riding his strider bike. I'm very impressed with the lens overall. It's very crisp and yields a great image overall. It's not sealed as well as other lenses I've owned, so shooting outdoors may be a problem. I've had problems with dust. Otherwise, it was a great purchase.
Backpacking In Rocky Mountain National Park - 50 Mile Loop inspireAson 2014-08-07 | Backpacking in Rocky Mountain National Park has always treated me well, but this 50 mile backpacking loop was different than any of my other trips through the park, mostly due to the weather. Although you only see me getting hailed on in the beginning of the video, I experienced the same thing two other times. Luckily I was below tree line the second time. The third hailstorm was just as scary as the one you saw and I experienced it after coming off of Long's Peak. They predicted that the weather would come early in the afternoon and it hit about 10:30 a.m.. I was definitely thankful that I was well off of Long's before it started. I took shelter under a boulder and didn't feel like filming it. While the weather was worse on this trip than any other trips I've been on, it couldn't dampen the spirit of the trip. This trip also included more wildlife sightings than I've ever experienced. Not only did I see more wildlife, I saw all the animals much closer than I've experienced before. All of the animals moved right past us, not noticing our presence for a few moments. While moose are my favorite animal, I think the family of deer we saw was the coolest. We were down by the river for a swim and deer were right across the river from us. You could tell they knew something else was in the area, but it took them a few minutes before they saw us sitting on the other side.I had a lot more footage that I didn't include, but I thought that the clips in here really show the full range of emotions you might experience on a backpacking trip. There's always a piece of me that misses home, but when I'm home I always miss backpacking.I mention how I thought backpacking was the most ridiculous thing and I still do. I mean it. Backpacking doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Carry more so you can travel shorter distances in less time. People were running the distance we did in two days. However, backpacking is slowly becoming my favorite thing to do. It's inexpensive, educational, and relaxing. I always feel like I've done something worthwhile at the end of my trips. I hope that you feel my account of the trip is worthwhile. As always, I sincerely appreciate any feedback you have for me (good or bad). I'm shocked by the support you all have shown and continue to who me. Thanks! :) - Chris***********Related Videos**************Rocky Mountain National Park - Boulderfield: youtube.com/watch?v=IfxitmZRdmQRocky Mountain National Park - Chasm Lake:http://youtu.be/oDgikMF0DnkRocky Mountain National Park - Winter at Sprague Lake:http://youtu.be/C2rJ2YjRxxMRocky Mountain National Park - Summer at Sprague Lake:youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9Fv1vsoArmY
Best Backpack Feature - This Pack Has It inspireAson 2014-04-24 | The best backpack isn't the one with the popular name brand sewn into it (although name brand packs can be good too). A great backpack is the backpack that can withstand 10 years of rigorous field testing and still be in good enough shape for more of a beating. The best backpack is the one that gets you outside doing what you love. Too often we get caught up in price, features, weight, etc, but in the grand scheme of things, those factors aren't that important. I honestly can't remember if I bought the pack or if it was a Christmas gift, but I know I was too young to care about weight and financially unable to care much about features. I needed something to haul my stuff! I have a number of pieces of gear that I use regularly that are over 10 years old (pretty impressive since I'm in my 20's). None of the items are particularly fancy or high-end but I've gotten plenty of miles out of them. The fact that the gear is still taking me to incredible places is what I value most. The next time you're looking at a piece of gear, get something that will last as long as the memories of the cool places it'll take you. We don't buy gear to get features. We buy gear to have adventures.Sorry if this sounds preachy. I don't mean to be. I am just very proud that I happened to buy gear that has lasted me many years. I do think it's important to be reminded of why we have gear.....(I know I've bought some high-end rain jackets that I really didn't need. A new jacket is definitely not as much fun to talk about as a 10-year-old backpack)P.S. The ski pass on my pack that I show several times is from a family ski trip at Alta ski resort in Utah. The pass is for December 25th, 2006. I never took the pass off because I was curious about how long day ski passes take to decompose. It'll fall off one of these days, but I'm going to let it happen naturally. While I had the backpack far before that particular ski trip, it's starting to become nice to have that date in pictures to remind me how old the pack is. What's your oldest piece of gear?:-)Take care. Happy trails & lasting gear.
