Five prayer flags hanging on a line in the foreground, out of focus, with snow-covered Himalayan peaks in sharp focus behind them under a pale evening sky, dark forested ridges below.

The calmest light of the day on the Kumaon Himalayas

Kasar Devi, Almora · January 2021

Prayer flags hang outside a restaurant near the Kasar Devi temple. Behind them stand the peaks of Nanda Ghunti, Trishul, Mrigthuni, and Maiktoli, deep in their winter snow.

The Himalayas are visible on most days from the Kumaon hills, and they appear different in every view. Sunrise makes the snow sharp and gold, afternoon haze flattens it, but the half hour after sunset is when the mountains look calmest — the white turning a soft pink-gray before the light goes.

Photograph: Hisalu