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Not everything goes to plan....
I was looking forward to my next walk. A last visit to the Walls of Jerusalem before all of winter’s snows melted. The forecast was promising, with more snow due to settle over the weekend. I had all my cold weather gear packed, snowshoes, Mont Spindrift sleeping bag, Mont Icicle down jacket, Mont Epoch tent etc. Then, a last minute check of the forecast the night before and it all fell in a heap. The snow forecast had turned into 2 days of steady rain..... Time for an alternative.
A quick scan of the forecast maps told me that the East Coast of Tassie looked rather inviting. Soooo, empty the pack. Replace the sleeping bag with my Mont Helium 550XL, slip in the super compact and warm Mont Neon Down Hoodie and replace the Epoch with the remarkably roomy Mont Moondance I tent. Well at least the pack was a bit lighter now!
Driving up to Coles Bay I pulled up at my favourite sunset spot. A quick check of the social media told me that an aurora was a possibility that night. Wandering down to the rocks I grabbed a couple of images then headed off to a nearby restaurant for a bite to eat. The cloud cover was pretty thick but it would likely clear around midnight so after dinner I had an hour or two’s sleep in the car hoping for a glimpse of the southern lights later that night. The stars were twinkling as I headed back down to the rocks and the first exposure confirmed that there was indeed colour in the sky. Two and a half hours later I slipped into my sleeping bag in my car to get some more sleep.
The next day I had planned to walk out to Mount Graham to try to get a sunrise shot looking out over Wineglass Bay from the mountain. It was quite a few years since I had done this walk and I had forgotten what a grovel it was climbing the 500 metres to the mountain. Maybe it was something to do with an imminent 65th birthday...
Anyway, after a good night’s sleep I was up at 5 am ready for the half hour walk to my chosen sunrise spot. The weather was perfect, with clear skies and a light wind.
Retracing my route, it wasn’t long before I was back on beautiful Wineglass Bay. The white sands creating gorgeous colours in the water as cirrus clouds slipped in overhead.
It wasn’t a bad alternative after all :)
By photographer and Mont Ambassador Geoff Murray
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Made with a 100% recycled Hydronaute XT-R Shell and a 100% recycled silk-touch Nylon lining, bunker down and stay warm in conditions well below what you would expect for sleeping bags of this price.
