From the Trek Around Manaslu, Nepal

One of our earliest adventures off the beaten track, with my guys Purna and Ramesh, to this vista above the village of Sama. We climbed a wooded hillside onto a ridge that crested treeline and gave views across the valley, revealing the Kutang Himalaya basking in the rapidly setting sun.

Ramesh was 18 years old then and in his element, oftentimes using branches and vines to catapult himself through the steep terrain. In my eagerness I had pressed for this foray soon after our arrival in Sama, ignoring a little how I was feeling. I had also not yet learned the lesson that the lack of solar warmth on the north side of the range can make a difference in acclimatization.

So I remember suffering a little for this one and being forced to retreat back down to a lower village afterwards in order to clear a raging migraine. However, the upside was that we did get the shot, and as a bonus we could see a new objective, a small saddle across the way, which promised possible ascent of Sama Ri, the rocky hill in the left center of the photo. 4 days later we came back up and climbed it.