Sunsets and Campsites

I got very cold standing around on the exposed shoulder of Kitadake at 3,000 metres high waiting to take this picture. As I was waiting around sipping some whisky to stay warm, I thought of Mitsuaki Iwago, the famous and incredibly humble Japanese wildlife photographer, who once stood for five days in the freezing, freezing Arctic waiting for a polar bear family to come out of its winter hibernation. The footage he finally got was his reward. That level of dedication is the measure of Iwago.

Japan's highest campsite had no shortage of tents Saturday night. These were the ones that got there late and had to camp on the exposed ridge. Dangerous, I thought, but I suppose people have pitched tents in worse places.

I told Dessie I missed the low skies and wonderful sunsets common to Australia and Ireland and he stunned me with a simple, obvious answer that I had never considered. What do both countries have in common? Nothing to the west. California sunsets must be special.