Why I made this: We went hiking in Bryce Canyon on March 13, 2020, about the time when the coronavirus pandemic really became a serious issue in the US. It was good to get outside and be in nature, away from the news and uncertainty (and other people).
I’ve been recording GPS tracks of my hikes for the past couple of years, and have been trying to find ways to use them to record where and what I’ve done, and to share them with others. This project started out with me trying to create a clickable map with pictures and video, but in the end, what I made was a virtual walkthrough of our hike. It’s kind of neat — having done the hike, I can definitely remember some of the places as I watch the video.
It’s still not perfect. In particular, I didn’t include any of the pictures or video we took. Our hike was in a small snowstorm, so the landscape and sky looked much different than what you seen in Google Earth. That will be another WeekThing, I guess.
Kristen has been doing a great job capturing what it’s like to be on our hikes in her own videos (WeekThing 001 and WeekThing 006). This is just another attempt at trying to recreate what it’s like. Really, though, you should get out and experience nature for yourself.
How I made this: I captured our track using my Garmin eTrex 30x. I simplified the track using Garmin Basecamp, then used Google Earth Pro to render the video.
This is amazing! It’s relaxing to watch. It’s like being there without all the people.