Panchachuli V, a snow-covered peak coming to a sharp point, rising above a thick horizontal band of cloud under a deep blue sky, with a lower snow slope faintly visible at right and a dark ridge of conifers across the foreground.

Panchachuli V in the last light, clear of the evening cloud

Dantu village, Darma valley · June 2024

The last light of the day is still on the snow, high above the cloud. The peak is Panchachuli V, seen from the Dantu village in the Darma valley. Rain came and went all through the evening, and the cloud kept covering the peak and then clearing again. In that light the mountain barely looks real — a snow peak so cleanly shaped it looks painted rather than photographed.

Photograph: Hisalu