I feel very rufty-tufty arctic explorer this morning, having woken up in the snow. Though now I'm in my own bedroom in a fluffy dressing gown ...
I have been thinking about buying a Hilleberg Akto tent - and Andrewc very generously offered to let me try his out, to see if I like it. What a nice man!
So - yesterday I got myself all packed up, into my cycling gear, and was all set to go when I discovered that the campiste (Beecraigs) I was heading for was open - but only for vans. Bah. So after a bit of calling round, I discovered that Drum Mohr, near Musselburgh was open and happy to let me camp. A mere 8 miles from home! But it's a nice site, so I zipped down there.
The tent was super-easy to put up, with the inner and outer all going up in one, and I was soon settled with a coffee. Early dinner, before it got dark, then I read my book till bedtime - about 8.30pm!
And I slept really well. It was a test of my new-ish winter sleeping bag as much as anything, and it obviously worked. When I woke up, I thought the tent seemed really close to my nose... this was partly the design of the Akto - I'm used to my head being at the highest point of a tent - and partly the fact that the fly was, yes, covered in snow! I was grinning like a loon by this point.
So i packed up, took photos, and got on my way. Only to meet lots of audaxers: Eck, Noodley, Valkyrie - and later on, Mercury Kev and others - who were about to set off on (or give up on) the Saltire 200. Given the blizzard I hit around Seafield, I'll be impressed if they did the ride.
Got home, dried off, shower, tea, toast. Now for some photos!
Taking it home from work. Yep, I have inside bike parking - jammy get
Checking everything's there and I know what I'm doing:
Arrived, nice sheltered pitch:
Tent goes up easily:
Cosy bed:
happy camper:
Everything ship shape (!):
reading in bed:
first glance out this morning
yep, it's snowy!
Big thanks to Andrew - I'll get it back to you as soon as it's dried out!