Slow light at 2,000 metres

[PLACEHOLDER] Light is the only thing worth chasing. Not the summit, not the distance, but the twenty minutes when a ridge turns the colour of old gold and everything else goes quiet.

Weather up here does not announce itself. A clear morning can turn into a white room by noon, and the sensible thing is to stop, make tea and wait. Most of the best frames came from waiting.

Why we wait

The road stops being a road a little after the last village. First the asphalt thins, then the gravel, and then there is only a pair of ruts and a view that has not been photographed for the people who will never come here.

Light is the only thing worth chasing.

What we carry

• A stove and two litres of water
• Two bodies, two lenses, spare batteries
• A sleeping bag for a worse night than the forecast

We came down on the fourth day with full cards and empty heads, which is exactly the trade we had gone up for.