deep mountains. following the bhagirathi in and the alakananda out, and then the two meeting in dev prayag. the one growing younger as we climbed, and the other simply growing as we followed it down. every day the sky a deeper blue and the akash ganga brighter every night, for the moon rises just a little later every night after the full moon.

the sheer highlands give you clean lungs.

strange lands, really. meditating mountains, and very quiet when the wind is quiet. very deep and indrawn. bhagirathi, shivling, kedardome, kedarnath, vasuki parbat, satopanth, chandra parbat, sweta parbat, avalanche peak, kalindi parbat. it feels good to be handed over from one to the next. greater and greater shelter.

and glaciers are living things. way more life than have us bits crawling over them. as also have the permanent blankets of the whitelands. but there are also such mountains there that are all rock, for they are either too steep or too windward.

landscapes of marble, mica, and red, green, and black slate. silver sands. rocks rocks rocks.

for the greater part of two whole days (before and after the camp at upper nandanvan), not a blade of grass, and no water. the whole world composed of a very few colours: brown, white, and blue.
later we found snow to melt and drink.

and a few men to match the generosity of the mountains. particularly sarbandaju, who led us, cooked for us, and bludgeoned us into all forms of unprecedented obedience.