Makalu-Barun National Park, Nepal

One of the benefits of trekking with a small crew is the logistical freedom to chase the next shot. Langmale had recently been described to me as "the Sound of Music meets 7 Years in Tibet" - high praise indeed, coming from the modern alpinist Don Bowie. I decided to try my hand at capturing this idea, and with a short day from Makalu Basecamp to get down, and the rest of the afternoon to scout out the angles, I was ready early the next morning.

I'd been hoping to juxtapose the shape of the stone enclosures standing before the mountains of dawn, but as in many cases, when the light of dawn actually came - my instinct suddenly pulled strongly in another direction - GO UP.  Luckily having been recently above 6000 meters, I was able to get up the hillside enough to straighten things out in time - and the result is what you see.