Zion to Arches Hike Video Series

After a long delay, I’m finally ready to share my video content from this spring’s Zion to Arches Hike. Once I began wading through all my stuff I realized it was going to be a big task. With nearly 8hrs of raw footage and thousands of photos and 360-degree shots, it really was a HUGE job. Throw in some hardware and software issues and all of a sudden it’s September!

Besides the sheer volume, cutting the footage was also a challenge due to several technical issues while on the trail. I broke my main camera on Day 10 which was a real bummer. 🙁 My tripod broke soon after that. My 360-degree camera lost the ability to preview so I was shooting blind the whole time and an external microphone I took just didn’t work — and boy do I wish it had because the WIND was terrible this spring.

Despite all those issues, I still think I got some decent content. Because of that I’ve decided to do something new this time and break up the trip into a series of FOURTEEN episodes each of about 15 minutes. I know, I know… that’s a LOT of video. That means there’s even more than usual of me walking and walking and walking, telling semi-lame jokes, talking to animals, and even singing this time out for some unknown reason. And I’m not a good singer — so I apologize in advance.

I know that the new extended format will be too much content for most of my audience (my mom might be the only one to watch it all!) Therefore I will still be publishing my standard “overview” video which will cover the entire hike in less than an hour as well as my “highlight” video of about 5 minutes primarily for my Facebook friends. And of course there will also be the 360-degree immersive video for the VR enthusiasts. So many videos, so little time! 🙂 One advantage of the “episode” strategy I hope is that it should make the content more “discoverable” for users just looking for a specific region. For instance, the first installment is just about Zion, a later episode is all about the Kaiparowits Plateau, and even later there’s one focused on the Needles in Canyonlands. I hope this keeps these regions from getting “lost” in a bigger video and make the content easier to share.

The first installment of the series — The Zion Traverse — is now online and linked below. Look for a new episode each weekday few days for the next several weeks.

Hope you enjoy and thanks for following along!

Link to the full playlist: https://goo.gl/cdC82A

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16 Comments

  1. Jim, Shirley, and Larry

    Fabulous videos, Jamal! Now I understand better why you carrying that 360-degree camera — very cool results. On top of the high quality camera work, you did all that walking and route-finding!

    Now we know what you did that day before and after meeting us at Stevens Arch.

    Thanks for sharing your stories, routes, and experiences.

    • Heya — thanks and good to hear from you guys! If you’d like copies of those photos of your group under the Stevens Arch, shoot me an email at Jamal at AcrossUtah.com.

  2. Thanks Jamal. You are a modern day Edward Abbey.

  3. I just completed watching this great series of videos. I really love the multi-parts format. Every morning, I was looking on YouTube hoping to see the next part!!! Great editing and I really love the sequences with the 360 degree camera. Your videos are a great source of information and are really entertaining. They keep me dreaming between my own adventures in Utah. Keep them coming. Let’s go !!!

    • Thank you! Glad you like the new format — sorry it took so long to get them done. The rough cuts were done in August, but as they say… the devil is in the details!

  4. Thank you for sharing. Hope to pass you on a trail someday.

  5. Honestly I love this new format!

    You are an inspiration!

  6. My kids and I refer to you as the Mr. Shadow guy. We have been watching this series and my kids love the videos. Thanks for the videos and info. You make it difficult to plan a trip because of the many great places highlighted. Hope I can get to some of these remote places soon.

  7. Thank you! Your videos are well done and ease the heart for someone who can’t hike anymore due to illness. I used to hike those areas so it’s wonderful to see the scenery again over video. Such a beautiful location. Keep up the good work. And I can’t wait for th next installments.

  8. Thanks Jamal – Been waiting for these posts. Enjoyed watching your progress this summer on your map. Folks at work thought I was nuts as I followed along and zoomed in and out of the map and earth images. So fun. Going to Kolob Canyon with my 10 year old twins next month – great to see your new Zion videos. They’re well done – looking forward to the next installments.

  9. Craig and Sue Westendorf

    Always wonderful. Thanks for taking us back to these places of achingly overwhelming beauty. The videos are so worth the wait.

  10. Hey Jamal/M. Shadow! Too bad you didn’t start your hike 10 days earlier, we could have met in Zion and I would have given you another piece of fruit.
    Every laudatory adjective has already been used to describe your work, so I will just say “thank you so much” again! Keep up with this!

    • Thanks! That is too bad… I would have enjoyed the fruit and it would have meant that the storm would have hit me much later where it actually would have been appreciated!

  11. Jamal – I can’t hike anymore so your videos and photos allow me to live vicariously in my favorite part of the country. I love your idea of a video series. Your mom won’t be the only one to watch the whole thing. Know that your work is greatly appreciated. You should be proud.