The mountain glows like a 2nd sun, long before any sunlight touches the
surrounding peaks. The mountain is much further away than it appears to be.
The bottom snowline is almost a mile higher than our base camp. The contrasts
in lighting are intense. At about this time, I was shocked to see huge soaring
birds crossing overhead from the immense valley behind me. They slipped
across without a single beat of their wings and headed towards the shining
mountain. It seemed to be way too early for there to be any thermal lift from
the cold valley floor. The birds must have come from roosts in the high peaks
on the far side of the valley. Click on photo to see the main valley.

Click on the griffon or the photo to continue.