from dawn till dusk

Went up to my fieldsite to do some predawn measurements. As we drove up the mountain in the dark, we were enveloped in thick cloud. Arriving at the fieldsite at 4am, the light of our headlamps reflected so strongly off the vapour, we were forced to hold the lights in our hands to see clearly. We did our work, and then retreated to the car where we had hot tea and breakfast and waited for the cloud to lift.

At the site, an hour after dawn. If you look closely, you can see the structures that are 20m away.

Bit closer, there they are.

Looking back at the vehicle

The cloud showed no sign of lifting, so while we waited I walked around taking some photos. The vegetation was dripping wet, and all the spider webs were covered in condensation.

Spider web

Big, nasty spider on a Leucadendron (Protea family)

Sandstone fynbos

Good diversity in this patch

After waiting for a couple hours, we aborted the second objective of the trip, as we needed dry weather to accomplish that, and headed down the mountain.

Emerging below cloudbase, halfway down the mountain

My awesome assistants, Christina and Tim.

Back at work, I watched the weather all day and when things cleared up I headed back up and finished the sampling, getting down in the dark. A predawn-till-postdusk science day. TGI was F.

At the base of the mountain, with the moon rising behind.