Africa pre-run in California!

Beautiful bag of gear from BMW arrived for use in Africa over the coming two weeks. Went out to shoot an adventure ride story in the run up to the rally, testing out all the gear along the way.

Temps in the 20's, and a sleeping bag designed for an African summer, did not go well together I'd have to admit. Only by keeping my pen in a hip-pocket did the ink say fluid enough to jot down notes about the experience. Weather was calling for 4-6" of snow to fall that night. Freezing temps, combined with the "sierra wave" cresting over the mountains in the distance, all indicated we were in for some serious weather. Waiting for the storm in the natural hotspring, the clouds continued to drift away, revealing a blanket of stars punctuated only by the occasional satellite or airplane.

A Pelican travel humidor and White Otter Pen Company cigar pen are all part of the luxury adventure travel package :)

Everything was frozen solid until the sun peeked through.

Wide swings in weather made for amazing skies at all times during the day & night. The light became amazing for a few minutes in the morning ... somehow jumping out of the hotspring & shooting photos in a towel wasn't that cold, despite the temps being in the low 30's.