The Idaho Hare & Hound iExperiment

Doing my best Hunter S. Thompson impression, I attempt to cover an offroad desert race with an iPhone and naiveté.

By Dale Spangler

With the second round of the National Hare & Hound Series coming to Murphy, Idaho recently, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to snap some photos and film the entire experience—all with just an iPhone. I made it a personal challenge to shoot and edit an entire race video using only an iPhone 6 Plus. Piece of cake, right? Was I ever wrong, and wow! did I vastly underestimate how difficult it is to do either of the above at a desert race.

First off, it's a bit of a free-for-all. This is both good and bad. Good because, for someone like me attempting to cover the event, we have unlimited access to go wherever we want. Bad because I quickly realized that everyone is spread out all over the place in a willy-nilly fashion (often in unmarked vehicles) so it can be hard to find someone in particular. Racers and spectators alike can come and go, park wherever, and basically sprawl out in the main pit area as they please. Ultimately, what this means is that it's up to the person covering the event (me in this case) to make it what they want because there is no such thing as a media credential or media center; no haves or have nots here when it comes to access. This is both refreshing and intimidating at the same time, especially if (like me) you come in with little experience and no plan. I quickly realized how vastly unprepared I was for the large distances these events cover. I showed up in my Subaru Legacy (scraping sagebrush on the way in worried about getting a flat) with a backpack to carry my equipment. A total rookie. No motorcycle; no ATV; no UTV. Just a backpack, a wide brimmed hat to stave off sunburn, and a pair of hiking boots.

For pictures and the rest of this interesting story visit www.dirtbuzz.com