We've just returned from a late summer trip to Colorado, our third straight year driving a motorhome there from North Carolina.  It’s a long drive but worth it, taking us through St. Louis to spend time with family and ending up in the crisp air and spectacular scenery of the Rocky Mountains.  Our usual final destination is Aspen, which completely transforms itself from a winter ski town to a hub for summer sports including road and trail biking, hiking, and river rafting.  Combined with great food, music, and art, it has been our annual summer vacation for the last 12 years.

During all of those visits, I have been wanting to capture the feeling of hiking and biking on the trails in this area, and this summer I tried something new.  I used my GoPro Hero4 camera on a Karma Grip gimbal, a small 3-axis stabilization system that nearly eliminates the shaking, bumping, and rocking that makes many action videos difficult to watch.  While hiking, the mounted camera is controlled by the handheld Karma Grip, which includes a rechargeable battery for operating the gimbal’s motors and the camera for about 2 hours.  For bicycling, I attached the grip to my handlebar and used a cable connection to the gimbal and camera that were mounted on a chest harness (part of a GoPro mounting accessory kit).

My first attempts with the Karma Grip are in the video below, highlighting off-road Aspen area bike paths including the Marolt, AABC, Old Stage, Cemetery Lane, and Rio Grande trails.  I’ve previously tried to record these trips with the Hero4 camera mounted without the Karma Grip, but the tilts, turns, and bumps made the video unwatchable. You can see for yourself how the gimbal steadies and levels these constantly moving shots and gives a sense of floating along the paths.  And if this scenery leaves you wanting more, plan a trip to western Colorado – or just check out the photos in my Aspen Collection.