Who would drive an ATV through 4 miles of muddy trails (one way!) just to go to camp for a few hours? The Fencil family did. So did Justin and I to hear the stories of the 30-06 Camp on the South Branch of the Ontonagon River. We met up with a side by side ATV and three 3-wheelers carrying Todd Fencil, his wife, 2 kids and his father Joe at the end of Polvi Road in Ewen. I thought it was an adventure to get to my camp. It takes over an hour and a half to get to this camp. So long there are designated stops along the trail to enjoy a cold beverage, relax for a few minutes and share some stories.
| After they have to remove this camp who is going to enjoy this part of the Ottawa National Forest? I don’t think the Fencils will unless there is a nice shelter to rest in after the long ride and I can’t imagine too many tourists will find this point on their GPS and say “let’s hike out there!” I don’t believe removing these camps opens the forest up to more people to visit, I think it closes it down. And nobody else will get to hear the stories of the “landmarks” along the trail through these woods. |
I had Todd wear a GoPro camera on his head for the first leg of the ride in to get some point of view shots of what it is like to get to camp. Other times I held it in the air or down low for shots of the ATV tires. Before the battery ran out, we got a great ground level shot of the ATVs going through a mud hole. You will have to wait for the film to see that one! Half the excitement of going to the 30-06 Camp is the ride in and the anticipation of arriving at camp so it was a must to document that as much as possible. | |
I filled up an entire 32 gigabyte SD card with footage from the day. Video cameras now record to tiny little SD cards that can hold 3 hours of video. I find it amazing. Gone are the days of tape. The interview with Todd and Joe took an hour and twelve minutes. Plus the ride in, a tour of the camp, chatting at the table with the family, shots of the river, the outside of the camp from different angles, and I have a few hours of footage to log and edit. I would love to show it all now, but like that ground level GoPro shot, you will have to wait for the finished film.