Woodchute Trailhead for Camping
I took my iPhone with me on my walk yesterday, both to track my walking distance and to take some video footage about what the trail and the campsites along it are like. Overall, this is not the place for big, fixed solar arrays, but movable ground panels will ensure the best performance in the greatest number of campsites. It’s the trees.
Again, this is a 2WD trail when dry, but high clearance is definitely needed. Approaching the one-week mark, the only campers I’ve come across are car campers/tenters. No motorhomes of any type, no other truck campers, no generic passenger cars, and no trailers of any type or size. So far. Aside from one 4WD van, all vehicles have been pickup trucks with and without bed shells, and Jeeps. That’s it. And everybody, regardless of vehicle type, goes slowly past. Apparently, no one wants to go into launch mode (including ATVs and dirtbikes), and this trail can do it.
Once again, this clip is mainly an exploration, this time to find out where the iPhone 5SE tends to fall down (find out what shooting conditions can cause pronounced problems with this device). There are plenty, including limited light/dark range, pronounced onboard mic variability with distance and position (some of which can be improved in post), and sun glare. Those are serious, but outside of those conditions, this obsolete model works pretty well. Considering that this is my very first stab at using a selfie stick, the results are okay. Other than scaring people by pointing the lens at my ugly mug, this stick greatly helps stabilize other types of handheld shots, too. But it takes some familiarization to carry it off. The particular model I got took a long time to locate and decide upon online, since it’s inexpensive, adaptable, works well with both an action cam and a smartphone, is very lightweight, telescopes in length, and seems surprisingly sturdy and well-made.
I hafta say, I find the Woodchute Trailhead to be a very enjoyable place to be. It can get a bit busy on Saturdays, but it’s otherwise quite private and pleasant to wander about on. It’s more visually enjoyable than the sites along Mingus Mountain’s trails, just on the other side of highway 89A.
If possible, you’ll want to watch this video fullscreen.
Strolling Amok 
What’s the medal your wearing?
Illinois Grade School Band & Orchestra Association Concert. ’62. Clarinet Operator. First Chair. Picked that up on my second tour.
😉
Beautiful landscape, good job on the video, hope you keep them coming !
Thank you, Barbara. My goal is to churn them out when they seem more appropriate to what I want to convey, but there’s no danger of Strolling Amok becoming a vlog: videos are a fun challenge, but they take too much time and hard drive space!
Doug it was good to hear your voice…….if only part of the time…..lol
We need to Mic you up.
Oh, microphones I got in abundance. VHF wireless, bluetooth, corded handheld and lapel, you name it. I figured I wouldn’t need one with the close distance of a selfie stick, but as you saw, that proved inconsistent. All of my devices control gain automatically, which can be a problem at times. If I decide to get serious, I’ll have to experiment to find the best combo with each video capture gizmo, like which one captures my plugged-nose nasal drone the best. They’re each different, so you don’t really find out what happened until it’s all over.