<Himalayas on my mind> Nanda Devi East summit as seen from Joshimath. The snow covered ridge leading up to the East peak is the same which has the difficult-to-reach Longstaff Col towards the middle of the picture. Towards the bottom end of the ridge is the Traill’s Pass traversing which (from the Munsiyari-Lawan Gad-Nanda Kot side) one can land on the famous Pindari Glacier towards the south-western side under the ridge. This ridge is effectively a wall between the Nanda Devi Sanctuary on its inner side and a dense glaciated area of peaks like Nanda Kot, Nanda Khat, Nanda Bhanar, Nanda Ghunti, Changuch, Mt Kuchela and dozens of others on its outer rim.

It is December 17th and still not cold in Delhi. Now that the winters are refusing to come near our city and the Met department says there has been no snow fall in the higher reaches in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh I checked up with friends living closer to the mountains in Uttarakhand. The picture is proof that there has been plenty of fresh snow in this area at least.

Nanda Devi East peak and its connected ridge