Words and Photos by Shaun Mittwollen @shaunmittwollen
The evening was completely calm as the soft summer glow of sunset bowed out towards the west, and the sounds of night became apparent under the veil of darkness. A wombat chewing on fresh shoots, the loud thud of a paddymelons first hop, and the regular hoot of nearby boobook owls. The animals here are shy during daylight hours, but as night falls, they safely congregate on the buttongrass plains. My camp is located near an old single-room hut, its timbers weathered by nearly a hundred years of bleaching sun and driving rain. Above the triangular summit of Barn Bluff. As the last glow of sunset disappears, thousands of stars appear in the moonless sky, a brilliant display without light pollution. To the left, the Milky Way. On the southern horizon the Aurora Australis glows and vertical beams wave along the horizon. In the middle of the solar maximum, it's been a good year for Auroras in Tasmania, with occasional displays that rival those in the north. I'm camped in the grassy plains of Waterfall Valley in the central Tasmanian highlands, and after a long day of guiding ten guests along the muddy track, it's time for me to relax under the stars.
This last Australian summer, I decided to take my new Mid 1 shelter along Tassie's Overland Track- arguably Australia's most well-known multi-day hiking route that heads some 70km or so through the unpopulated region of Tasmania's highest summits. I've been working along the Overland as a guide for five seasons now, accumulating 70 trips–well over a year of my life out on track. Often, there is a high degree of burnout in guides after several seasons of intense workloads, injuries, and social fatigue. But for now, I've managed to avoid this with little microadventures like this along the way. With an interest in photography and adventure, there is diversity and unknowns that keep the excitement peaking. Every trip is different, and you never know what to expect. A spectacular sunset from a mountain summit, half a meter of snowfalls overnight, or a fun techy trail run through magical rainforest scenes.
In this case, it was a beautiful night under the stars. I sat up for several hours, watching the scenes unfold around me. The beam of my head torch would often catch gleaming eyes staring back at me. Animals feeding undisturbed by my presence. As the aurora started unexpectedly erupting I grabbed my camera and tripod scoring these great shots of my camp. Behind the summit, the Atlas Comet gradually receded from view, having climaxed a few weeks earlier. It was exactly one of these moments. Totally unexpected. You never know what you're going to get out here. As the dawn broke, a fiery red light glowed on the summit of Barn Bluff, and it was time to start another day.
Waterfall Valley camp with Barn Bluff behind.
A spectacular display of aurora from Mt Oakleigh.
Sunset beams from Mt Oakleigh earlier.
Snowstorm clears from Mt Ossa.
Dusk on the high alpine gardens.
Fiery red sunset overlooking Pelion West.
Check out more of Shaun's stunning work HERE.
