The season has opened. Big, blue sky days and relaxed mask recommendations means that there are a lot of people hitting the trails on the weekend. Situated across the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River from Mailbox Peak this ascent climbs up a south facing arm of Teneriffe Mountain. Through breaks in the trees you can look down on the village of North Bend and if you’re lucky even see a paraglider pilot or two on a cross country glide from time to time.
Washington Trails Association spent some time on the lower sections of this trail back in 2018 and you can still see and appreciate their work despite hard, wet winters and lots of foot traffic the rest of the year. Notice any of those old growth cedar stumps from the other side of the valley? Keep looking, Washington’s history is in between the trunks of fir.
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A very beautiful environment around with waterfall looks Amazing.
Dear @feetforbrains
Thank you so much for sharing with us a nice Falls.
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Beautiful falls @feetforbrains I saw Snoqualmie falls in Washington and Multnomah Falls in Oregon.
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@feetforbrains прекрасный вид 
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Wow, beautiful @feetforbrains . Thanks for sharing
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@Sophia_Cambodia Tomorrow I’m headed up to Wallace Falls near Gold Bar to help a WTA work party with some trail maintenance. If you’ve lived in the PNW for any length of time I bet you can guess what the forecast is for. Yes, it’s going to be soggy. That’s okay by me. I grew duck feathers and webbed feet years ago.
Cool hike up to the falls @feetforbrains ! Better you than me (I’m not so good with the outdoors aka too lazy!) Nice to see so many folks along the trail including young kids! I didn’t see any picnic tables down at the car park: is that not recommended (I’m not sure if it’s due to wild life nearby). Also, out of curiosity, what did you use to record your video? Thanks in advance!
@feetforbrains интересный ракурс выбран
@AdrianLunsong This trailhead is maintained by the State DNR as a hiking destination. I think the lack of picnicking facilities has more to do with how construction was funded in the first place than anything else. Users are obliged to purchase a parking pass on an annual basis for access to parking here (and other State sites) and the sheriff will ticket and tow your vehicle if you don’t show it.
Most of my video is recorded using an Insta360 One x2 in 5.7k full 360 at 24 fps. Right now my workflow is pretty simple, I key frame the raw video in post using Insta’s studio and then edit it in DaVinci Resolve. Most of my time put into post goes to the key framing since I don’t generally mess with color or sound. My goal has been to produce a point of view style experience while on the trail and I hope I’m gradually getting better. I make these videos freely available to everyone in the hope that I inspire greater appreciation for the outdoors and trail life, but also as a means of giving those people who do not have access to these places a way to experience what I’m lucky enough to enjoy.
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@LianaSK Я просто высокий
@feetforbrains Thanks for the info! Are you allowed to bring food and eat it along the trail? I’ve got severely limited experience with the outdoors and different places have different rules so I’m not sure what’s allowed.
Ah, the One X2, Lovely kit. I have the One R but I don’t use it often enough. I’m guessing you’ve got a fairly decent sized memory card for your hiking trip plus an external battery plugged in to keep the camera recording for that period of time? I really need to do more recording with my One R but I do find it awkward when people stare when I’m recording 
I’m also a DR user: it’s a pretty neat editor!
Hope to see more of your adventures here on Connect so keep on shooting and posting! 
@AdrianLunsong Oh yeah, you can eat and even camp if you follow some basic rules. This trail is actually pretty close to major road and a small community, when I go backpacking I tend to get much further away from people. It is a pretty water fall though and there’s a really good view looking back west over the Seattle area if you climb to the top. I didn’t on this trip since the trail was so busy and I started so late in the day.
Right now I’m using 128 Gb memory cards that I hot swap every two hours and three batteries that go for about that long each. I can recharge them on the trail which is nice, but for day trips like this usually unnecessary. The one X2 got a bigger battery than its predecessor and that’s been super nice.
For this trail work I’ve been considering the DJI OSMO Pocket 2 for a couple of reasons. First, it’s lens is slightly wider format and doesn’t require all that time in post to set point-of-view. Second, with a chest or shoulder mounted cradle I could regain the use of my hands which would be super nice. With the one X2 I’ve got to hold the selfie stick out ahead of me and while the effect is pretty nice it gets old and I can’t use my walking poles. Finally, there seems to be a growing group of people who are charging the P2 while using it which was it’s major down side when I first started putting this kit together. Apparently the danger is overheating the camera, but it might be worth the risk especially if I can cradle the gimble on my pack and walk while charging for a day. Wait and see.
Thanks for watching. Tell your friends. Leave a like and subscribe on YouTube. It helps me grow as a creator.
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@feetforbrains Thanks for the extra info on your setup! I sometimes do plug in an external battery pack to my One R when I’m doing extended filming but I didn’t know about the risk of overheating (I assume this is a general issue to consider for all types of camera). And yeah, the One R is more bulky/unsightly compared to the sleek X2 so I totally understand the ‘pain’ of holding onto it whilst filming. You could strap the selfie stick to your backpack and operate the camera from a mobile or you could take it one step further and attach the camera to a hard hat the way @HiroyukiTakisawa did!
If I had all the money in the world, I would love to add the P2 to my gadgets too!
By the way, I’ve subscribed to your channel and left a comment on your video too! Looking forward to more videos! Have you considered adding commentary to your video and be like a real guide, dispensing tips/info every so often? It would be great to hear more about the place especially if you already have all the knowledge in your brain!
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@AdrianLunsong Right now most of my hikes are about a day in length. I’m recovering from a brain tumor and a long term neurological condition that I’m still learning to live with. That said, my plans include some day taking the rig out on much longer hikes including things like the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. Because of that weight is a huge concern of mine. Every gram is something I have to lug along the way and I’m no spring chicken.
Something like the P2 is probably way outside my weight budget. A lens weights more than my whole X2 set up. Yikes! And I don’t want to think about hiking with stabilization. A gimbal for that would probably kill me.
I really appreciate your subscription, comments, and likes. You don’t know how much it helps me as a creator. I’m not the only one making this kind of content, but I definitely occupy a unique space within this niche community. I’d gladly add commentary and act as a guide, however, I suffer from mutism which is why I’ve chosen to remove myself as a subject of the films as much as possible. Maybe as my editing skills improve I’ll be able to convey some of that information from within the video via text without pushing the watcher out of the experience.
Yesterday I hiked to the top of Granite Mountain which is another local favorite of mine. The trail actually crosses into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area although you wouldn’t know it because you can hear Interstate 90 for most of the climb. It wasn’t that busy despite the expected holiday weekend traffic, which was an unexpected blessing. Expect that video later this week.
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@feetforbrains Ah, sorry to hear about your situation. It sounds like you’re making the best out of what you can, which is great! One interesting observation that I had from your video is that your hiking pace is rather fast! That or I’m just tortoise-like slow!
When you decide to enhance your future videos, it would be nice if you could put elevation details too if you happen to have those data. I was just thinking about how fast you’re moving and I was curious to know how much elevation you are climbing. Probably another set of data that would make me feel embarrassed about my own lack of physicality but I’m sure would be appreciated by other hikers.
@AdrianLunsong If I could change my situation I would, but fate is fickle and best not tampered with. Besides, would I have ever had the “courage” to try this if all my other options hadn’t been exhausted?
As far as my pacing is concerned, that’s a bit of a double edged sword for me. Let me explain. First, I used to run … a lot! In my salad days I was an ultramarathoner pretty much before anything else. And even though I did race, it wasn’t what I ran for. But age and injury and in my case neurodegenerative disorders tend to slow a person down.
What I’m trying to say is that I have that history behind me. It’s a big part of who I am both physically and spiritually and a most people who haven’t lived that way won’t understand how it affects a person even when they’re no longer able to push speed like they could as a kid. But yeah, in most of my videos you will see me out pace a lot of other hikers on the same trail.
I have a integrated GPS for my camera which I haven’t used yet for a couple of reasons. First, because I’m not fond of the format the camera presents the data. It’s really tailored for higher energy sports I think and there’s not much I can do to alter it once it’s imbedded in the video. So cool to have, but not so cool to look at.
Second reason I hold back on GPS data is that my walking pace can be pretty close to most people’s running pace. I average about 4+ MPH (6.4 KPH) over most terrain. But if I don’t tell you that, you don’t know and it doesn’t effect your perceptions of motion from within the video. If you’re walking on a treadmill, there’s no expectation you’re trying to reach. You can use the video for your own health and mental purposes from the comfort of your home without reaching for my arbitrary pace.
The final reason I haven’t used the GPS yet is it draws more current from the battery. On shorter trips this isn’t a problem since I’m carrying spare batteries anyway, but on longer trips I’m usually trying to fit everything into that energy budget. Any slack I have comes from a small solar battery I have to carry (plus weight to my pack). Using it means I have to stop and recharge spare camera batteries from the solar battery array. Spread over a couple of days this isn’t too bad except for the surplus weight, but on long day trips it’s a stinker. Honestly, if Insta360 wants to talk to me about a better direct charge option I’ve got ideas. Really I do. Let’s turn this little camera into a 24/7 dynamo of cinematic action/documentarian renown. But they’re probably too busy chasing 15 second clips of people jumping off rocks in tiny planet mode.
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@feetforbrains Wow, thanks for sharing! I’m of an age where I’m starting to feel physically limited so I can get the gist of your situation although I’m sure what you’re going through is a lot more than I can comprehend so it’s not even a comparison.
My ex-classmate does/did ultramarathons over in Asia. He absolutely loves it. And we also have @LightRich who’s also into his long distance running. But my go-to phrase in life is, “It is what it is” (nothing enlightening, I’m afraid 
) and it’s a phrase I use fairly often. Not in the context of “defeat” or “settling for something less”, but rather there are some situations that are beyond our control and rather than dwell on it and despair, it is far better to take stock of what you do have and what you can change to improve the situation.
So, huge kudos to you for not giving up! I’m sure the freedom of movement and being outdoors are very important so keep doing what you can and enjoy life as best as you can! Looking forward to your next hike!
And yeah, totally makes sense about the GPS sucking battery and not entirely essential to your video!
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