A stone hut with a hand-painted restaurant sign listing meals, with plastic chairs and a small solar panel outside. Behind it, a snow-covered Changuch peak lit by early morning sun above a dark valley.

A restaurant sign at Furkiya, the last camp before Pindari Glacier

Furkiya, Pindari Glacier trek, Bageshwar district · April 2022

A stone hut with a restaurant board, at over 3,200 meters — this is Furkiya, the final campsite on the Pindari Glacier trek. Behind it, the first sun of the morning has reached the top of Changuch and is working its way down.

The sign reads like any roadside dhaba, but the nearest village is Khati, 18 kilometers down the trail, where the trek begins. Up here there are only two buildings: this hut and the KMVN rest house beside it, built for trekkers.

For a person arriving after a long day of walking, the board means someone is here, and there is food.

Photograph: Hisalu