Trip Report +Video Kearsarge to Mt Whitney

Btw it's killing me that I didn't make it up to Wallace lake.
It was in my itinerary but the lightning the night before scared me into staying below the treeline at lower Crabtree instead.

Trip reports on Wallace were very hard to find. So if anyone has any info please share.

Thanks Chris, I really enjoyed the 15 minute dose of high country goodness. Good music too.

"Trip reports on Wallace were very hard to find. So if anyone has any info please share."

I think I remember someone writing on here that it was great for fishing and had some big trout. I know that's not much. :-)

Loved it, I did Whitney from the South starting at Crabtree in August. Totally brought me back. Easily the best trip of my life. I would say I think Lower Crabtree is worth the extra mile rather than the upper. So much more peaceful and the scenery is amazing.

Loved your video. The backside of Whitney was such a fun trail compared the the front high traffic.

Great report.

Thanks dude!
I usually prefer the scenery above the treeline, but lower crabtree was really nice.
TONS of happy looking deer.

Btw,
So don't get me wrong, Mt Whitney was amazing…but I found myself memorized with Mt Hitchcock. Seriously beautiful and blew away Whitney in my opinion. I'm literally pricing out printing one of my Hitchcock pictures on canvas.
It reminded me of bacon for some reason…

Anyone ever climb Hitchcock? Is there a class 2/3 route up there?

Damn I want to go back there so bad…

Yeah, Hitchcock is much more impressive from the west than Whitney. That fluted wall is pretty amazing from the Guitar Lake area. There are a number of class 2 routes up Hitchcock – see here: http://www.summitpost.org/mt-hitchcock/870210

Whitney is arguably the least impressive looking mountain in the vicinity, when compared to others like Mount Russell or Lone Pine Peak.

I was wondering how you got the time lapse pan shot. The kitchen timer is brilliant. I want to make one.

"The kitchen timer is brilliant."

There are commercially available.

–B.G.–

Yep here's the panner I used:
Flow-Mow 2 Hour Professional Timelapse for GoPro / DSLR / Cell Phone with GoPro Tripod Mount and Cell Phone Mount https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HOGRKEW/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_e.Yuub1YEMVM2

I used to use a cheaper one called camalapse, but it used to get stuck half the time.
The Flow-mo seems much better. I think it's under 3 oz….can't remember exactly.

There are several of those on the market, all very similar. Some are intended for very lightweight video cameras and others have a little more power.

–B.G.–

There's also a trick I read somewhere, where you buy a cheapo kitchen timer from ikea, and then stick one of the sticky gopro mounts on top.
Haven't tried that yet..

"There's also a trick I read somewhere, where you buy a cheapo kitchen timer from ikea, and then stick one of the sticky gopro mounts on top."

There are several ways to skin that cat. It all depends on how lightweight your camera is. If you are really good working with epoxy, you can probably get a camera mount to stick onto the arrow/pointer of the kitchen timer. Plus, the whole thing has to survive the backpack travel to the shoot.

–B.G.–

I've done the ikea timer trick, it works really well!! I just used one of the sticky mounts instead of drilling.

http://www.wired.com/2011/09/ikea-hack-time-lapse-panning-tripod-from-kitchen-timer/

Great video, nicely edited, thanks for sharing!

Hey Chris,

How did you keep your camera + GoPro charged for your hike? extra batteries or did you bring some type of charger?

Thanks I'm curious for longer hikes how to manage it.

Cheers,
Megan

Heya,
I brought several extra batteries. A 2 hour time lapse drains a battery dry….so I had to choose those shots wisely.

Ya that's my conundrum. The time lapse and long exposures are so draining. I have 2 extra batteries for my OMD that I carry for longer trips but I was trying to figure out the best way to deal with recharging on the trail. A goPro and iPhone 5 are pretty easy bc they're usb but that OMD doesn't have any way to charge via usb.

I normally leave my camera out over night for night time lapses and then when I wake up the battery is dead it would be great to have one in the camera and a way to recharge the other while hiking.

I've solved this problem before, many years ago when I took my first trek in Nepal. You can build up a "brick" of lithium primary batteries and get +12VDC. For most cameras, there is a battery charger that will plug into an auto +12VDC cigarette lighter socket. I think that I was able to recharge my camera every three or four days while enroute, and I needed no solar power to do it. Now, I would likely encorporate solar power and use lithium rechargeable batteries, but it depends on the season (sunny or cloudy season).

–B.G.–

There is another way to get the panoramic camera movement, and this is for the case of the camera that is too heavy for the windup oven timer.

You mount a mirror on the oven timer, and then point the camera at the mirror using the correct angle. That way, the oven timer only has to move with the weight of the mirror which is likely to be much less than the camera.

–B.G.–

Awesome! I'll have to experiment with that mirror trick!
Something I was never able to solve was how to improvise an ultralight slider dolly for those nifty "mile, mile and a half" movie shots.

On a funny note: The slow tilting/panning shot of me driving near the beginning of the video was totally accidental.
I wrapped the gopro head strap around the seat, and it was slowly falling down. I combined that with a Ken Burns pan, and the resulting effect looked like I used some fancy dolly.

Truthfully, I'm a horrible photographer and movie maker. Most off the cool video tricks/photos are pure luck.
The hardest part of that video was writing and recording the soundtrack while my 15 month old was sleeping. (Hence the whispery vocals)

"Something I was never able to solve was how to improvise an ultralight slider dolly for those nifty "mile, mile and a half" movie shots."

I understand you. I could not figure out how to build a decent one, so I purchased a metal one. I need a bit more practice with it, but it is ready to roll. I'm still trying to figure out how to motorize the dolly along the slider track.

In the past, I have made both still and video productions. In general, I try to write the rough script before I ever start out, and I have key scenes noted. I also record some rough music sound tracks before the start. After the trip, I can add scripted narration to the music and edit that into the stills or video.

–B.G.–

Please share! I'd love to see your videos Bob!

Interesting thing I noticed is that the "Mile, Mile and a half" crew used a dolly with a manual crank. Not electric. And it still came out awesome! I think some expensive image stabilization may have contributed to the smooth end result.
I wish image stabilization worked on gopro footage. The fisheye seems to interfere with the image stabilization math and warps stuff in a weird way.

As for production thoughtfulness…I have this rule with myself to not let my focus deviate from the outdoor experience. In other words don't focus on the camera stuff..just do that if it's fun here and there.
However you make a good point, if I put some forethought into the shots I might come home with better footage.
Will give that some thought.
I have no illusions of becoming the next Bear Grylls, but it's nice to have the video to remember the trip and share with my son as soon as he's old enough to prefer my vids over cartoons on the sprout network. ;)

The problem is when the video file is 6GB in size. It just isn't very portable.

I'm not sure how to run a manual crank on the dolly and expect it to be smooth enough.

Fisheye lenses are notorious for warping vertical subjects, and that is worse if the lens is pointed somewhat up or down. Of course, I never worry about that. I mostly shoot wildlife, so I have to use extremely long telephoto lenses.

I agree with your intention to avoid becoming another Bear Grylls, although you might be able to do the accent.

–B.G.–

I have this theory that your initials BG actually stand for Bear Grylls.
Every post of yours that I read I picture in his accent.

We're on to you BG!!!
You and your Gla'ciers and disorientating dange'rus territree'!!!