As many of you know from my latest video, back in July I spent three weeks in Crested Butte, a small mountain town in Colorado. It is the home of ski resorts, wildflowers, incredible views, and epic mountain biking. I brought 2 dolls: Crystal and Cecile, plus my camera and my doll bike. Since I would be spending a long time there this summer I hoped to film something really cool, but I only got a short stop motion of Crystal. My family and I were biking every day for hours, and I had a wonderful time while improving my skills and confidence on the trails. I did a few hikes with my camera and ended up with a lot of nice photos, many of which are presented in my new video.
The spot in the pictures above is on a bike trail called Lower Creek. I thought it would be the perfect spot to film a little video, with the river and the mountains in the background. So, I packed my two dolls, tripod, and my doll bike in a suitcase, with my camera bag around my shoulder. My parents dropped me off at the end of the trailhead, so I could walk to where I was going to film. As I set out on my little journey, I was energetic and excited to film. It was a beautiful day- the sky blue with puffy white clouds, the sun bright, the river a clear, sparkling blue, and the green mountains rising all around me.
Unfortunately, filming in Crested butte is not as easy as it may seem. Up in the mountains, the weather is totally unpredictable and sometimes a bit extreme. Every day, in the early afternoon, it rains. Every day. Also, believe it or not, the shining bright sun and the puffy white clouds on those perfect days were terrible for filming a stop motion. The lighting was always changing. For a few seconds it would be bright and sunny, then a cloud would move over the sun and the lighting would change drastically. It was so frustrating because the lighting would change every few pictures in a stop motion! The wind was also a bit of a problem. Despite all of this, I was still determined to film something, no matter how crazy the lighting looked.
I walked along the trail for a while, a few people asking me where I was going with a suitcase. ("Miss your flight?") I eventually came to an intersection, with two signs pointing opposite ways. The sign pointing to the left said "Slate River". The sign to the right said "Lower Creek". Where was I going to film? The river. So I turned left and began to drag my suitcase down the
gravel path. What a stupid mistake.
I followed the gravel trail for a while until it opened up onto a wide, flat bed of rocks, with the river bubbling by on my left. I walked to the end of the bed, trying to find the trail, when I saw that it continued on the other side of a small patch of water. I compared where I was to a picture I had on my phone, so I figured my filming destination must be on the other side of the patch of water! The problem was, I didn't see a way around the water. So I took my shoes and socks off, and waded through the freezing water until I reached the other side. Thankfully, it was only a couple feet deep and a few feet across. Once I put my shoes back on, I continued on what I thought was a trail.
I was wrong. The trail seemed to disappear, so I wandered through the grass until I came upon a little peninsula. The river was on my left and curled around in front of me. There was no way across. To my right, on the mountainside, I saw bikers on the Lower Creek trail. I stood there like an idiot as I realized that I had taken the wrong trail. About an hour had passed since I began my journey, and I was starting to lose my energy. Thankfully, I had brought plenty of snacks and water with me. For a moment I considered just filming where I was, since it was still a nice spot, but I knew that I really wanted to film farther down. So, I turned around and headed back to the intersection.
Once I was there, I made sure I took the other trail, to Lower Creek. After dragging my suitcase along that trail for a while, I was almost to my destination when suddenly I saw my parents riding towards me on their bikes. "Done filming already?" they asked me. Well, I told them I hadn't even started! I had been hiking for nearly two hours and I was pretty tired by then. They gave me a few more snacks and told me to call them when I was done filming. Once I finally came to my location, I rested and waited for a group of people to leave so I could get started. As I began to unpack my dolls, a light sprinkle started to fall. It was that time of day. Fortunately it stayed a sprinkle, and the rain quickly passed. By this time I was exhausted and barely had the energy to set up my dolls. It was hopeless. I realized that I wasn't going to get any filming done, so I decided to take a few pictures of Crystal with her bike instead. I wanted to take a few pictures of Cecile too, but by then my parents had shown up and were ready to help me carry my things back. My mom let me ride her bike while she walked with my suitcase, and we took the trail back to the car.
So, it wasn't really the greatest day. My second attempt at filming in Colorado: failed! I'm glad I got a few nice pictures, though. But hey, at least I tried! I filmed another video right before school started, so I hope to get that up pretty soon. I'm still trying to get everything under control with school. High school is a lot crazier- and busier than past years! I apologize if I won't be uploading as much. I'm going to try and film some short videos and get them up every month or so. Oh, and thanks so much to all my followers for three wonderful years on YouTube!
Until next time...
FiveDollStars ☆
Hi.
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I'm so sorry to bug you, but I have emailed you multiple times and I never got a response.
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