Video TR: Zion National Park

[FirstTracks]

At the beginning of Thanksgiving week we escaped the snow and cold of northern Utah in favor of sunshine and warmer temps in southern Utah to visit Zion National Park, and boondock on BLM land outside of the park entrance in Virgin.

We found stellar camping, explored the area, found other great boondocking sites and had unexpected results within Zion National Park itself. Come along for the ride and share our experience:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_CeDJtVs0s

[FirstTracks]

BoonHauler wrote:
...... another home run, thanks!

Thank you!!

[FirstTracks]

(error - please ignore, I can't delete it)

[FirstTracks]

FirstTracks wrote:
I use the DJI Mavic Pro for my drone shots -- It's brainless to fly.

A 30-year-old friend - and meteorologist no less - just proved me wrong.

Like much of the Intermountain West and Pacific Northwest right now, Salt Lake City is mired in horrific temperature inversions thanks to this mega ridge of high pressure. That means until a storm moves in to mix up our air, warmer air aloft and cold valley temperatures are trapping moisture and pollutants along valley floors. When it gets bad like this, the smog becomes a fog so thick that snow actually precipitates out of the fog at times.

"Bill" (name changed to protect the stupid), a new Mavic Pro owner, thought that it might be cool to fly his drone up above the inversion fog to get some footage. That would've been spectacular footage, except that he didn't think about the effect that freezing fog would have on the aerodynamics of his drone's propellers until the $1,000 device did a 350-foot freefall straight out of the sky.

LOL!

[BoonHauler]

...... another home run, thanks!

[FirstTracks]

c.traveler2 wrote:

FirstTracks wrote:
I see you drove the Moki Dugway with your rig. Funny, we did the same in Episode 2. Sporting, eh?

How was it pulling you trailer down it? Would have like to see more of you on the Moki Dugway.

We were kind of in a hurry, trying to find a camp in Valley of the Gods before dark.

We ended up there quite accidentally, following Google Maps without realizing that UT-261 terminated in the Dugway. By the time we realized where we were, it was too far to turn back and go around.

Truly, it wasn't much worse than any other desert pull, thanks to the fact that there was very little traffic once we got there. Had there been a lot of traffic going up it would've been much more of a pain.

[c_traveler2]

FirstTracks wrote:
I see you drove the Moki Dugway with your rig. Funny, we did the same in Episode 2. Sporting, eh?

How was it pulling you trailer down it? Would have like to see more of you on the Moki Dugway.

[FirstTracks]

I see you drove the Moki Dugway with your rig. Funny, we did the same in Episode 2. Sporting, eh?

[FirstTracks]

Great to hear, and thanks for the sub! I'll do the same.

[c_traveler2]

Just finished watching your posted video..great job on it. I'll be checking out your other videos since my wife and I like to get to out of the way places and they're so many of them. Check mine...travelingman21000 /youtube

[FirstTracks]

bob213 wrote:
Great video. Love your videos and "Adventure". Tell us about your drone setup sometime please. Would love to add that to my camera capabilities. Thanks again for taking the time to share.

Thank you, Bob!

I use the DJI Mavic Pro for my drone shots -- there's an Amazon link to that drone in the video description. It shoots in full 4K, and honestly the gimbal stabilization is incredible. I use ND and/or polarizing filters on the drone camera from PolarPro, their Cinema Series. The drone has a flight time of up to 27 minutes in optimal conditions per battery, and an operating range of 4.3 miles. It's brainless to fly.

Also from DJI, I use their gimbal stabilized Osmo+ camera for 4K handheld shots.

Despite its ease to fly, anyone with a drone realizes that it's not "if" you'll crash it, it's "when." For that reason I recommend that drone pilots purchase State Farm's standalone Personal Articles Floater policy that covers up to $5000 of cameras and other equipment, which is an all-risk policy with replacement cost and no deductible, for $60/year. You don't even need to have any other business with State Farm. I have no connection with State Farm (in fact I'm employed by one of their competitors), but that policy is hands down the best drone protection out there.

[bob213]

Great video. Love your videos and "Adventure". Tell us about your drone setup sometime please. Would love to add that to my camera capabilities. Thanks again for taking the time to share.