Blog: A Guide to Filming in the Wilderness – Day trips

DAY TRIPS

Above Video: Day trip to Goldstream Provincial Park

Hiking requires a high level of fitness and is very physically demanding. Like any outdoor activity, using common sense is essential. One of the most important things you need to do before embarking on day trips is research as well as knowing your limits. By doing a quick search, you can easily find a trail that is fit for you — virtually all trail information can either be found online or the local visitor centre. If you are unsure which trail you should be taking, always start at the shortest, well-maintained trails and work your way up. There is no shame in that. (I didn’t work my way up and found myself at the top of a mountain with no water left when filming Huckleberry Lookout!)

There are three types of trails; easy, moderate, and strenuous. The trail’s difficulty is determined by it’s mileage, terrain and altitude. The easy trails are well maintained and typically have a flat terrain. As for moderate, these have a gradual elevation and is more strenuous than easy. In some cases, you will notice deterioration of the trails. They are still maintained but require a higher level of fitness. Lastly, the strenuous trails are sometimes off trail hiking, through a creek or river crossing with rough terrain and significant elevation changes. If you’re like me and detest tourist attractions, you will rarely run into tourists at the strenuous level.

The advantage of day trips is that you are able to carry a lot more gear than that of back-country filming. However, no matter the length of the trail, be it one hour return or ten hour return, I always do a scout first. Carrying a day pack and camera in hard (no tripod) I run the trail first to observe any sections along the way that I may want to film at and create check-points along the way for myself when filming. I carry a camera to capture any wildlife I may run into and to take photos of different sections that I would like to feature. It is very important to establish checkpoints along the way, even if you don’t do a scout first so you make it back before dark. When I first started filming in the wilderness, I had a problem of either stopping too frequently and not making it to the end, or not stopping until the end of the trail and missing things along the way. I found that doing a scout first allowed me to actually enjoy the scenery first and then capture specific elements I found fascinating. Day trips are much more like any traditional shoot and you are less limited in your creative desires.

No matter the type of trip you take, it is key to drink lots of water and fill your body with nutrients. I CANNOT stress enough how important each of these are! Another problem with the outdoors are those pesky mosquitoes! Although there is no way to completely stop them from pestering you, there are a few things you can do to make them tolerable (besides applying spray). Avoid perfumes, hair sprays, scented soaps, deodorant, lotions, shampoos, and wear light colours.