Bryan Crosby Dot Ca

Obvioulsy, no photos exist of the first 5 or six hours of the climb, but this one was taken at around 6:30am.  Base Camp is behind the low cloud formation in the center of the photo.  Our route took us over the glacier in the bottom of the photo and straight up a bowl on to a very rocky and steep ridge from which this photo was taken.  I’ve climbed at strange hours before (Mt. Fuji) but this one was a particularly odd feeling because unlike Fuji, I didn’t have a clear image of the approach prior to sunrise.  When the sun came out…whoa…I actually climbed up that?

Nearing the summit and looking back along the ridge.

 

Ladakh Valley below.  The weather wasn’t perfect, but the clouds and mist provided an eerie atmosphere.  While I wouldn’t get to see K2, I was lucky to have summited given that every group the previous day had been turned back by high winds.

From the summit.  K2 would be in the background on a clear day.

Made the summit at around 7:30am

It is a 90 degree drop down about 1500m just over that edge…

 

Heading back down.

Glacier crossing.

About 11am looking back toward the cloud encrusted summit.

Base camp in the morning.

 

Too tired to stand.

      

A quick lunch and then a long sleep.

Tags: himalayas, india, kashmir, ladakh, leh, mountaineering, photography, photos, stok kangri, travel, traveling