Should I Hike With A Video Camera?

I have just bought my beloved a new video camera for her birthday. And not only is she so grateful but also happy for me to have a share in using it myself. Although making videos is not my forte, having watched so many videos made by other amateurs on YouTube, it was while I was sitting alone at Costa Coffee and watching the world go by, that I thought how wonderful it would be to make a video - or a series of videos - and post them all on my YouTube channel. I wonder how many subscribers I would collect, and how many views?

And my theme? Most likely day-hiking, or as the English express it, rambling. Perhaps naming the series DayhikePensioner or something similar or more appropriate, the idea behind all this is to show the world that age is no barrier against such adventure. Rather it could slow down ageing altogether, delay the creeping onslaught of Alzheimer's, maybe even stave off weight gain. Furthermore, hiking trails tend to be away from roads carrying busy traffic, instead, passing through areas of natural beauty, including woodland, although many trails or public footpaths do begin at car parks.

Personal experience includes through-hiking. That is, having at least one on-route overnight stop. Such hikes here in the UK include the West Coast Path from Bournemouth to Weymouth (although the trail proper starts at Studland Bay, on the other side of Poole Harbour which itself is crossed by a chain ferry) with stops at Swanage and Lulworth Cove YHA hostels. Such a hike takes on challenging hills, especially those between Kimmeridge Bay and Lulworth Cove, yet the views are spectacular, with the sea always in view, as the trail lining the clifftop nearly all the way.

Although Lulworth Cove YHA hostel is a mile inland and had in my day restricted opening hours, the spectacular reward after such a strenuous hike is the view of Stair Hole, just a little way past the Cove itself. The wall of twisted Portland Stone is breached by the sea, which floods the little enclosed cove at high tide. Further west along the coast, over another hill, the famous Durdle Door arch awaits, a venue for summer thrillseekers who uses it for their dangerous game which has claimed casualties - tombstoning, while the rest of the year, crowds of uniformed students from different schools assemble to learn about its geological significance.

Stair Hole, Dorset, UK.

There is one downside issue with this trail. That is, it's only accessible during school holidays, as the section between Kimmeridge Bay and Lulworth Cove is owned by the Ministry of Defence for use as a rifle range, and therefore closed to the public during school term. 

I have completed day-hikes from Bournemouth to Swanage several times, and through-hikes from Bournemouth to Weymouth, I think, twice. Also, an interesting day-hike is a loop starting and finishing at Swanage. The outward route is the Coast Path to Chapman's Pool, a small but spectacular cove surrounded by high cliffs. From here the hiker turns inland and joins the Priest's Way, a public footpath leading back into Swanage, passing through a delightful postcard village of Worth Matravers. Alex and I did this loop together during our courting days a few months before our wedding.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the Dorset Coast has always been my hiking Garden of Eden.

But other UK venues where I hiked includes the Hadrian's Wall Trail linking Carlisle to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, with overnight stops at YHA Haltwhistle and Hexam hostels. Although not quite coast-to-coast, this walk took in the remains of the Roman wall which marked the northern boundary of the entire Roman Empire. Forts, known as Chesters, were evenly spaced every Roman mile along the wall, one of them a town in its own right, with their famous thermae as well as well-preserved latrines, together with the usual military facilities, all within the typical playing-card rectangular enclosure. This particular fort was the most well-preserved ruin in the whole of Roman Britain. This was the only hike I did with two other close church friends, one a financial adviser who takes care of my pension, and the other an accountant who directed my tax returns.

Although the other two were probably fitter than I was (they played squash against each other regularly) one of them pulled out about two-thirds of the way through, thus missing out on the crushingly boring flat countryside 20+ mile hike along a dead-straight road into Newcastle.

The final hike I completed alone was about a month before our wedding, and that was at the Lake District from Kendal to Keswick in about a week, with YHA Keswick hostel being the very last hostel I stayed at before tying the knot, after which I never saw the inside of a hostel again. It was also on this hike when I stood on the summit on one of the mountains overlooking one of the lakes when the whole environment darkened as a result of a partial solar eclipse.

Overseas, a one-stop Rim-to-River-back-to-Rim hike was completed at the Grand Canyon twice, the first in 1978 and again in 1995. In 1997, a day-hike I took at the Blue Mountains National Park allowed access to tumbling waterfalls amidst high cliffs, eucalyptus trees, and rainforest vegetation. By contrast, less than a year later in 1998, I managed the Manhatten Broadway day-hike from near Harlem to Battery Park.

Grand Canyon Hike, September 1995.

Going back into 1973 in Italy, the Ercolano Station to the crater of Mt Vesuvio was a day-hike never to be forgotten, whilst in 1981 the Cinque Terre loop starting and finishing at Monterosso Station was worth the train journey from Viareggio, as this walk rewarded me with spectacular views of small harbour villages clinging to the rocky cliffs of the rugged coastline.

With a plethora of hiking experiences and now in possession of a new video camera, the temptation to open a YouTube account I find quite alluring. Therefore joining those younger men and women who have made hiking their full time living and attracting millions of viewers. Had I remained single, this could have been a golden opportunity. But as a husband and a carer to one whom I love dearly and is partially disabled, I am aware that leaving her at home while I spend days away is far from my heart. Indeed, there are those who are married and yet earn their living on making and publishing videos of their lone travel by combined sponsorship and viewer support, I am also aware that a certain level of professionalism is required.

Such as narration. Whilst talking, the flow of speech is generally poor. Not only do I have an accent which could spoil the clarity of what I'm trying to say, but there are often gaps which are filled with sounds such as -er- -um- -y'know- and such which would have turned off any listener. Then there is technology, which I must admit, I still find it difficult to get my head around. One example is editing before publishing. Many of these travellers film themselves walking away along the trail, leaving the camera behind. Of course, he then turns and returns to collect his camera. But that bit we don't see, for it has been edited out.

Videos of traveller's experiences do make delightful viewing, whether it's hiking or using public transport, whether by train, bus or by air or even on a boat, one category of videos so far hadn't appeared, and that is of cycling. Maybe a video camera fixed onto the handlebars? But would it make viewing interesting? What is there about a road scene, constantly overtaken by motorised traffic? Maybe that's why I haven't come across any videoes of cycling, unless Google brings them to my attention.

The benefits of hiking are to appreciate the natural scenery where the hike is set. Whether it would be Dorset, the Lake District, Italy, Australia, or the Grand Canyon, it's to acknowledge the glory of God by means of the beauty of creation. And here I find missing in all those videos about cross-country hiking or day-hiking. Despite the dramatic beauty of the mountains, the lakes, creeks, waterfalls, the forest and coastal features, not one of these videos acknowledge as being the work of an intelligent Designer. But in any of these videos, I might not have to wait too long before hearing the word evolve. By watching nature programmes whether, through a video or a BBC documentary, any hint of an intelligent Designer is immediately dismissed.

In the YouTube video library, there could be as many as fifty videos bearing the title, Why Do People Laugh At Creationists? - all in one series. On Part One, a student explains why he believes in Creation. He mentions the spherical orbit of the Earth around the Sun, that water cannot exist other than on our planet, and that the Grand Canyon was formed in literally just five minutes. As far as sceptics are concerned, this student has put himself on the same level as a Flat-Earther, dishing out embarrassment to all Creationists in the atheist's eyes.

Therefore in the comment forum under the video, I wrote a rather lengthy piece which within, I admitted that I was a Creationist myself and that the student featured in the video lacked basic education.

Basically, I explained that as one who believes in an intelligent Designer, the Earth's orbit is not a sphere at all but a slightly elliptical plane, with the Sun not quite at the centre. Therefore, on one side of the orbit, known as the Perihelion, the planet is closer to the Sun, and this occurs during our winter at the Northern hemisphere and during the Antarctican summer. Six months later, at the Aphelion, the Earth is further away from the Sun during our summer at the Northern hemisphere. I went to explain that this eccentricity of the Earth's orbit is essential in sustaining life, as most of the landmasses are on the Northern hemisphere, with the Southern hemisphere mainly of the ocean. Since land warms up quicker than the ocean, it means the oceans are nearer the Sun when required, or else, a huge permanent ice sheet would form on an extensive part of the Southern hemisphere, not unlike the Ice Age which covered the Northern hemisphere soon after the Noachian deluge.

Waterfalls like this one at Blue Mountains N.P. Stock Photo.

I also explained that as a boy, I was already aware of the frozen water icecap at both the Polar regions of Mars, and I have never changed my mind on this issue. And as for the Grand Canyon, I explained that the sedimentary rock strata resting comfortably on a granite bedrock were laid down by a huge quantity of water. Could this water be from the Noachian Deluge? And the Canyon was cut, not in five minutes but over several months, maybe even years.

And the response? So far, absolute zilch! There are times when being ignored is far worse than being laughed at.

Indeed, as a Creationist, I may have an understanding of the Bible and its relation to science. But as for modern technology, well, it will be a lot less easy to get my head around, especially with a video camera.

Perhaps one day some bright spark will write a book, An Idiot's Guide to Shooting Videos, but whether such a book will ever appear on the bookshelf - meanwhile, I hope I can film some videos of some short but interesting hikes in the future.