It was a rookie error and I’m guilty as charged, I always advocate checking out new kit, get a feel for it, see where all the parts go, especially if it’s a new camera. In this case it was a new tent, a two person ideal for the longer hours of winter where you will likely spend more time not to mention a bit more room to organise things and generally move around.
The Kuiu Storm Star was the tent of choice, two vestibules, lots of space, three poles with good venting options, it looked simple and not unlike my Soulo tent, a single person tent from Hilleberg. I’m a man why do I need to look at instructions? Err….
Moonlight over Rannoch Moor -7ºC
Beinn Achaladair under the moon.
I’d chosen to visit my favourite Rannoch Moor spot as I knew it well and it would be easier to set up in a known space. Well it was a bit windier than forecast but okay I thought it’s not too bad. At this point I realised that the guy lines were still in their factory knot format, i,e, tightly done up, I pegged out the fly sheet to prevent it all blowing away then proceeded to with difficulty untie the knots; all ten of them. There may have been some cussing, but the wind luckily carried it away.
Loch Tulla
After some broken nails and aching back and knees I undid the last knot and stood up, it seemed windier. I started to put the poles into their respective sleeves and hit the first snag, they didn’t seem to cross over quite right, in the now howling wind I held on to the poles moving them back and forth trying to work out what was wrong. With the strengthening wind I stood there braced against the buffeting, hanging on to the loose poles thinking I might have to call it quits when I remembered a small area a bit further down that I’d glanced at a few times before. I took the poles out of their sleeves and quickly jaunted down to inspect plan ‘B’. It was surprisingly sheltered from the northerly belting over the moors.
I portered everything down bit by bit and started again, realising that the pole location was different from the Soulo even though they looked kinda the same. Now it was evident that scrunching up the fly to transport it to the new location had tangled all ten guys, a little more cussing was in order. Finally with that sorted and the spaghetti guy line mess straightened out it was starting to look good, fly up and lines going out. I quickly got my gear inside only to note that I seemed to be on a bit of a steeper slope than I thought. I ended up putting my pack and everything I could spare under the sleeping pad just to get it somewhere close to level.
Taking in the view.
I awoke the next morning to a frosty -7ºC quite pleased with my little shelter and slept quite well considering the construction holding up the sleeping pad.
Rannoch Moor
Early Mist
It wasn’t a spectacular sunrise and the trip was more about trying out the new tent, but I managed a few images, the starry night ones being my favourite.
Tiny Island
Morning chores, frost clearing.
Breakfast and coffee time in the morning sun.
On returning home I watched the instructional video, oh, ahh, he does it like that, hmm. Note to self, follow own advice and familiarize self with new gear before leaving home… :)