Tag: Tourism Videos

Lake Tahoe: Donner Pass Tunnels, Shirley Canyon, Chimney Beach, and More (video)

by Greg Johnson, posted in Videos

Here’s a nice video of the Lake Tahoe area from Mark and Tricia of Keep Your Daydream. Watch full screen for the best quality. It’s a long video, so skip ahead to areas of interest if needed. [Source: YouTube, 22 Oct 2017]

About

“The Lake Tahoe fun continues with exploring the abandoned train tunnels near Donner Pass, hiking Shirley Canyon and cliff jumping at Chimney Beach. We also take a few minutes to share some of the best things to do in Tahoe and our favorite places to eat including Sunny Sides, Jakes on the Lake, Fire Sign Café and Garwoods. But don’t forget to grab some ice cream at the Tahoe City mall (second floor).” [More…]

Hidden Gift Inside the Video!

So, there’s a hidden ‘gift’ inside the video in the form of a tip about an app called Geocaching. If you’ve never heard of Geocaching before, then you’re in for a surprise. It’s really a great app for people who travel and like adventures that combine mobile devices with hiking, biking and exploring areas. Spoiler alert: You’ll find the description of Geocaching at 17m 36s into the video.

Video Commentary and Critique

If you’ve followed Mark and Tricia’s adventures, you know that their videos are partly a personal record of their family travels, along with some helpful tips to those interested in visiting various designations. So, there’s some humor and family fun mixed in with the travel tips. As a result, these aren’t compressed 2 minute videos of National Geographic quality distilled footage. The flavor is a bit more casual and authentic as a result. It’s helpful to know this ahead of time so you can appreciate the videos for what they are.

There’s some very crisp drone footage, but most of the video and stills are standard definition apparently recorded with smartphones and sometimes not much stabilization.

Like most of us, they apparently didn’t invest in a $7,000 medium format digital camera and a $50,000 RED video camera. So, it’s not 4K video with professional camera gimbal stabilizer, but this ads to the authenticity of their videos. They don’t have a sterile commercial feel to them.

Photo Credit: The header photo for this page is a screen shot from the above video by Mark and Tricia Leach.

This post was created on 18 Jul 2018 at 8:16 AM PT. It was post dated to reflect the date the video was posted to YouTube.

Yosemite National Park Travel Video by Expedia

by Greg Johnson, posted in Videos

Here’s a nice video by Expedia showing some of the attractions around the Yosemite National Park area, just a few hours south of Lake Tahoe. [Source: YouTube, Expedia, 30 Oct 2016]

About

[Source: Video description from YouTube]

Yosemite National Park sits on the western slopes of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. Most visitors spend their time in Yosemite Valley, which despite being only 7 miles long and 1 mile wide, packs in more jaw-dropping scenery than just about any other place on Earth.

Near the valley entrance stop at Tunnel View, and stand before a panorama that’s reduced generations of visitors to silence. From Tunnel View it’s just a short drive to Bridalveil Fall. Fed by snowmelt, the fall reaches its thundering peak in May.

The Yosemite Valley ring road follows the banks of the Merced River, which shifts in character as it thunders from the valley walls, before gently winding across the valley floor. The ring road is dotted with trailheads that lead to 800 miles of hiking trails. The Four Mile Trail climbs the valley’s southern wall to two of Yosemite’s great outlooks, Glacier Point and Washburn Point. Further along the ring road is the trailhead for The Mist Trail, which offers stunning views of Vernal and Nevada Falls.

For thousands of years, the Ahwaneechee had villages throughout this valley, but it was at the base of Yosemite Falls where their great chief resided. Take the one-hour hike to the lower falls, or spend the day climbing all the way to the upper falls.

To the north of Yosemite Valley, is Tioga Road, one of the USA’s most scenic highways. Fill your lungs with alpine air at Olmsted Point, refresh yourself by the waters of Tenaya Lake, then spend the day at Tuolumne Meadow, the traditional summer hunting grounds of the Ahwaneechee.

From its high country to its waterfalls, its towering sequoia groves to its valley meadows, Yosemite is an American story unlike any other.