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In Search of the Himalayan Ghost - Snow Leopard Expedition to Kibber, Spiti

Recently, I completed a photography expedition to Kibber in Spiti to photograph the elusive Snow Leopard, also known as the Himalayan Ghost. Mr. Vipul of Wild Ark. organized the expedition. This was a 10-day trip that started and ended in Chandigarh - 2 days of travel from Chandigarh to Kibbar, 6 days in Kibber photographing the wildlife, and 2 days of travel back to Chandigarh.

TL;DR:

The snow leopards are called ghosts for a reason. They are elusive and excellently camouflaged in the rocky and snowy terrain of the Himalayas. They stay far from humans and can be spotted mostly at high altitudes. We were a team of six, and this trip was an absolute test to our physical and mental strength. We faced extreme weather, with typical temperatures ranging from -15 degrees in the daytime to -28 degrees at night. We trekked in high altitudes (as high as 15,500 feet) at low oxygen levels, and after such arduous treks, we found the snow leopards too far to reach with even the biggest of the telephoto lenses. But with all this hardship, we also had a wonderful time. We experienced the grand landscapes of the mighty Himalayas, the harsh life the locals lead in these remote parts, and the great hospitality of the people in Kibber. We ate simple yet tasty food and spent the evenings around the warm stove sipping hot soup and having humourous conversations.

To me, this trip was 20% photography and 80% experience. I returned with average (or even below average) pictures of the snow leopards but with a lifetime of memories! So this report will have more pictures of the landscape and the life we experienced than of wildlife.

As this will be a very long report that can get heavy and even boring, I am providing a link to various parts of the thread below. Please skip to the topics of interest.

Table of Contents:

Preparation, and journey from Chandigarh to Kibber
Journey from Chandigarh to Kibber Contd...
Our daily routine
Day 1: Photographing a single leopard
Day 2: Chicham Bridge and Himalayan Blue Sheep
Day 2: A pair of Snow Leopards
Day 3: Ibexes and Red Foxes
Day 4: A relaxed day of birding, and Key Monastery
Day 5: A walk in the village after a night of snow and a game of cards
Day 5: A snowstorm, an Eurasian Eagle Owl, and a Red Fox
Day 6: An evening of celebration and the people I met
The return journey, challenges faced, and conclusion

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Preparation:

The Snow Leopard Expedition has been on my wish list for a long time. When I saw the announcement from Wild Ark of one in February, I signed up for this sometime in December. I received a detailed document about preparations. Some of the key points are listed below:

1. Not a Tour: It was clearly mentioned in the document that this is not a tour with luxuries but an expedition with lots of hiking in challenging weather and living it rough for the 6 days in Kibber.
2. Fitness: This is a very important part of preparation. As we expected to do many hikes at high altitudes, cardiovascular fitness is very important to deal with the exertion at those low oxygen levels. I had already started running and continued with the training. I did 3 or 4 runs a week with distances between 15 to 20km a week. And this preparation was a life saver. I was able to manage all the treks and did not face any AMS symptoms.
3. Gear: As the snow leopards and other animals like Ibexes are expected to be quite far, we were told the minimum focal length needed would be 500mm. I had a Canon RF 100-500 zoom lens, and decided to go with this. A good tripod and gimbal mount were recommended if I planned to shoot videos. As I did not have a Gimbal mount, I purchased one. As we expected to shoot at very low temperatures, the batteries will have less life. I already had two batteries for the camera. I bought a third one with a spare charger to be on the safe side.
4. Warm clothes: To deal with the very low temperatures below -20 degrees, we must wear multiple layers of warm clothes - anywhere between 2 to 4 layers, depending on the temperature. I have made some trips to Hanle in similar weather conditions (much warmer compared to Kibber, though), so I already had all the warm clothes required.

Journey from Chandigarh to Kibber:

The starting point of the expedition was Chandigarh. All of us reached Chandigarh one day before the start of the trip. We visited the famous Pal Dhaba in Chandigarh in the evening for a tasty dinner of butter roti, butter chicken, and kulfi falooda.

A Tempo traveler had been arranged for the journey. We covered the distance between Chandigarh and Kibber in 2.5 days. We stayed at Rampur Bushahr the first day, in Kaza the second day, and reached Kibber by about 11:30AM on the third day. We could have directly gone to Kibber on the 2nd day, but stopped at Kaza for some acclimatization to the altitude and temperature. The last bath we had was in Rampur on Day #2, and the next bath would be again in Rampur on Day#9. For me, this was the one of the two toughest parts of the tour - the other being the use of chemical toilet and wet wipes in Kibber

The first day was sort of boring drive from Chandigarh to Rampur via Shimla. The drive from Rampur to Kaza was through some scenic routes, and we enjoyed the grand Himalayan landscape with snow capped mountains during this part of the journey. We stayed in Kaza in a homestay. We had cozy rooms with electric blankets, and had some tasty home made food. We left Kaza the next day after breakfast and reached Kibber after an hour's drive. We unloaded our luggage, had some tea and snacks and were ready for our first photography session of the Snow Leopard.

A few pictures from this part of the trip.

The famous Pal Dhaba. There are two hotels in the same complex - The Old Pal Dhaba and The New Pal Dhaba. We had dinner at The Old Pal Dhaba, as this was the original one.



Butter roti and butter chicken with some kulfi falooda to finish. The butter roties were literally dripping butter!



The journey begins. We left Chandigarh at 5:30 in the morning in a Tempo Traveler.


We stopped for breakfast at the outskirts of Shimla, in a hotel called Sher-E-Punjab. This hotel had an open terrace with a view of the grand mountain ranges. We had some tasty breakfast and resumed our journey.


Puri and tea for breakfast.


The first view of the grand mountains.


Tea with a view.


We stayed at Bushahr Regency, run by Himachal Tourism in Rampur.


Neat and clean room.

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Journey from Chandigarh to Kibber: Contd...

We left Rampur hotel at 5:30 in the morning.


On the way, we stopped to buy some chicken for our Kibber stay. At the temperatures in Kibber, the chicken could be stored for weeks in the open! The price list had one line item named "Parent". We were intrigued by this and asked the shop owner what this meant. He explained that, usually, the first generation of chickens are imported, and these are used to breed and make more chickens. The first generation chickens that are imported are called the "Parent". I did not ask how the Parent chicken differed from the second generation in terms of taste, etc.


We drove through some beautiful winding roads and through rocky overhangs.


We had views of rivers and mountains.


Sign of things to come - frozen waterfalls!


As we neared Kaza, the scenery changed to a landscape of mostly snow!


We reached Kaza around 3:00 PM and had some piping hot Thukpa in a small eatery. One of the best Thukpas I have had!


The path leading to the homestay was covered in snow.


The homestay.


The dining room. All houses in this area have similar dining rooms. They have this stove in the middle that is heated with logs. The stove keeps the room warm and can be used to cook, too.


Had some tasty hot drink made of some local fruit by the stove!


The cozy room. They had an electric blanket in the bed, which provided the much-needed warmth in the sub-zero temperatures.


Simple, tasty food! That gajar halwa was creamy and had the right amount of sweetness. I had two of these


The next day, we started around 9:30 AM and drove to Kibber. It was snow everywhere!


Arrived at around 11:00 AM in Kibber and unloaded our luggage from the van.

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Our Daily Routine:

Before I write about photography, I would like to write a brief post about our daily routine for the 6 days in Kibber.

Our day usually begins very early. Every night before we went to sleep, Mr. Vipul would tell us when we should be ready the next day. This used to be any time between 7:30 AM and 8:00 AM. He wanted us to report "ready to go". This means we should have all the equipment packed and ready to leave except for our shoes. And he asked us to be very punctual about this time, as the sighting reports can come any time, and we should be ready to leave immediately.

I have the habit of waking up early, at 5:30 AM. By the time I finished freshening up, the Homestay owner would come and light the wood fire in the stove in our room. I then made a cup of black coffee and enjoyed this by the warmth of the stove in our room.

At the reporting time, we all assembled in the dining room, usually within a couple of minutes. We then had our breakfast which would be dishes like poha, parathas, puris, bread and eggs, and tea. During breakfast, Mr. Vipul used to give tips about photography, settings to use in the field etc. He also helped troubleshoot small problems with equipment.

After breakfast, we await a call from the field about animal sightings. This includes snow leopards, red foxes, Ibexes, or rare birds. We usually left between 8:30 AM and 9:30 AM. Our porters would arrive before 8:00 and would remain with us till the end of the day, even if we did not have any field trips. Lunch is usually packed in the morning, and the porters carry a backpack with lunch and a couple of flasks of tea. We had our lunch mostly in the field, either when we were photographing or somewhere on the road as we waited for another tip from another spot.

Most days, we returned to the homestay around 7:00 PM. The homestay owner would serve us piping hot soup, which we enjoyed sitting near the warmth of the woodfire stove. Dinner usually was served at 8:30 PM, after which we hit the bed.

Below are a few pictures of our daily routine and some of the awesome food we got to taste.

The dining room where we spent most of the time.


Lighting the wood fire, a daily routine.


The fire is on!


Black coffee by the warmth of the stove.


Morning conversation over breakfast.


Hot soup is being served.


Puri and bread/omlette.


Local rice buns with chicken and eggplant curry.


Freshly steamed momos from the stove.


Local Tibetan roti made of barley.

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Day 1: A Single Snow Leopard:

As we arrived from Kaza to our Homestay in Kibber, we got a call about a sighting of a single snow leopard. We wasted no more time and immediately left after unloading all our stuff from the Tempo Traveler. We took just the essentials like our camera with a telephoto lens, a tripod with a gimbal, and a backpack with some backup warm clothing and water. Our porters joined us. They were with us all the 6 days and accompanied us to the field. They carried our gear in the field.

The location was about an hour's drive from our Homestay. It was located at a higher altitude than Kibber. Once we reached the location, we found several vehicles parked there. Word about snow leopard spotting spreads quickly through the network of spotters and guides, and everyone around Kibber for snow leopard photography reaches the spot. So, we always found between 10 and 30 photographers with their porters and other support staff in all locations. This applied not only to leopard photography but other wildlife like Red Fox and Ibexes too.

After getting out of the van, we had to walk about a kilometer on a steep slope downhill. As we had arrived a little late, there was already a huge crowd of photographers, and we had a difficult time finding good spots to anchor our tripods and cameras. We were on the slope of a steep cliff, and the single snow leopard was in the valley on the other side of the cliff. There were several photographers who had reached very scary locations to get a closer view of the leopard.

The first challenge I faced was locating the snow leopard. People nearby were very helpful and were giving directions to the location of the snow leopard. However, no matter how hard I tried, I could not find the snow leopard. Forget naked eyes; I could not even spot it using binoculars. Then, another photographer nearby was very kind to show me on his camera's screen the exact location where the snow leopard was resting. With this reference, after a little more struggle, I was finally able to bring the snow leopard in the field of view of my camera!

And now I faced my next challenge. I thought my 100-500 zoom lens was good. I have had some good results with this lens in some other photography tours, especially in Gir. But in all these other occasions, the subjects were much closer. The snow leopard here was at least 300 meters away, and with my lens at 500mm focal length and setting my sensor to 1.6 crop, the snow leopard was still some 5% of the frame. My camera would not even focus right. It took me some more time to put the viewfinder in full zoom and use manual focus to bring the leopard into focus.

It took me about 30 minutes to get in the flow and start shooting. Thankfully, the leopard was resting all this time. We were at the spot for close to 2 hours just waiting for the leopard to make a move.

As we were waiting on the leopard, we also had our lunch. They pack lunch at the Homestay, and the porters carry this with them. Lunch is usually a simple affair with a type of rice, like fried rice or pulav.

After 2 hours, the leopard got up and started to move. Within a few minutes, it got below the cliff and vanished from our field of view. I managed to click several pictures of the leopard (at a very low resolution) as it walked out of our view.

After this, everyone started to pack up and leave. One of the spotters mentioned that the leopard would be visible from another spot as it crossed the valley. So, we got into the van and drove a kilometer, got out of the van, and trekked to another spot for a couple of kilometers. As predicted by the spotter, the snow leopard reached another valley and lay down to rest. This was a steeper cliff than the previous one, and we had a bird's eye view of the leopard. As the light was fading fast, it became more difficult to shoot from this angle. I managed to click a few pictures, though.

We then called it a day and returned back. It was already getting dark, windy, and extremely cold when we reached our van. We reached the homestay at around 8:00 PM after a very long day.

Let me share some pictures from the day.

Below are some uncropped frames with the lens at the maximum zoom of 500mm and the sensor at a 1.6 crop, making the effective focal length 800mm! Spot the leopard in these frames







Below are some pictures I could manage with some heavy cropping, and sharpening. These are heavily cropped images from the already 1.6 crop frame.

















A couple of pictures of the leopard in the 2nd spot - one uncropped and the other cropped.





Below are some pictures of the scenes from the location.

Vehicles parked by the road. We walked a kilometer off the road to reach the spot.


There was a huge crowd of photographers who had already set up shop. We found it very difficult to find a good spot.


Some photographers had gone down steep slopes to set up at the cliff's edge.


An Alto! We found lots of Altos in the area. The locals are very skilled and drive these Altos easily than the tourists who drive their SUVs with 4x4 drives and whatnot!


The second spot where we found the snow leopard was beyond the village. We walked almost a couple of kilometers in the snow to reach the spot.


A lonely Mahindra parked amidst the snow!

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Day 2: Chicham Bridge, and Himalayan Blue Sheep

On Day #2, we decided to visit a nearby suspension bridge called "The Chicham Bridge". This bridge is one of the highest bridges in Asia that connects Chicham and Kibber villages. The bridge spans a gorge that is 1000 feet deep and is an engineering marvel. We spent some time enjoying the breathtaking view of the bridge and the surrounding mountains and drove on. On the way, we found a herd of Himalayan Blue Sheep, one of the main prey of the Snow Leopard, grazing in a valley. We hiked down a steep slope several hundred feet to get a close view of the sheep. A few pictures from this session.

The day begins with this amazing view of the moon above snow-capped mountains.


A few pictures of the spectacular Chicham Bridge.






Walking down the slope closer to the sheep.




A few pictures of the sheep.

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Day 2: A pair of Snow Leopards

As we finished photographing the sheep and returned to the van, we got a call about a sighting of a couple of snow leopards with a kill.

This spot was quite far from Kibber. We had to go all the way to Kaza and beyond and then drive up a very high mountain range. It took us about 2 hours to reach the top of this mountain range. As we neared the summit, there was very thick snow cover on the road, and our van could not make it beyond a point. The point where the snow leopards were spotted was about 3 kilometers away on the road, and then a kilometer of hiking with about 750 feet of altitude gain. As we started walking on the road, the driver of a pickup truck kindly offered us a lift to the end of the road. After this, we made the strenuous climb to the summit. We were at an altitude of 15500 feet. The combination of cold, low oxygen levels, and the steep slope made this the toughest trek I have done yet.

As we reached the summit point, we found a big crowd of photographers already set up. We were told that there were a couple of snow leopards at the top of a peak that was several hundred meters beyond. I tried locating the leopards for almost 20 minutes and failed. Then, one of the porters used an iPhone and zoomed in on the screen and showed where the leopards were located. One of the leopards was perched on a ledge near the top of the mountain, and the other was resting a little below. After some time, both the leopards came down together and feasted on a sheep kill. It was surreal watching the beasts feasting on the kill through the camera's viewfinder. We spent more than 2 hours in the spot, clicking pictures of both the leopards. We also had our lunch as we were photographing the leopards. After feasting, both the leopards separated and lay down to rest. It got dark, and we packed up and started our trek back to the van. It took us an hour to reach the van and then another 2 hours to get back to the homestay.

Overall, this was the toughest day of the trip, and also the most satisfying day.

Below are the pictures from this session.

The start of the walk from the van.


The driver of this pickup truck was very kind to give us a lift.


The view of the photographers on the slope.


Another view. The slope is much steeper than what the picture shows. Notice how small the people who are climbing the slope look.


My camera pointed towards one of the leopards.


The position of the leopards marked.
1. The position of the first leopard
2. The position of the second leopard
3. The position where both leopards feasted on the kill



The full frame at 500mm zoom and 1.6 crop, effective focal length of 800mm!


The first leopard is resting on the ledge.






The second leopard is resting at the base.


The second leopard walks towards the kill.


The second leopard starts feasting.


The first leopard comes down to join the party.


Taking a break. Notice the red faces from the blood from the kill.


Finished eating.


Both the leopards splitting up to lay down and rest.


Lunch is served. It's time for us to eat too.


The lunch with a view.


I was in this position for more than an hour. By the end, all my joints were frozen and creaky!


A grand view of the surrounding mountains.


The trek back to the van.

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Day - 3: Ibexes and Red Foxes:

On Day #3, we got a call about a herd of Ibexes grazing on a mountain. This place was somewhere near the Chicham bridge. We had to walk in snow for about 1.5 kilometers to reach a cliff, and the herd was grazing on a slope on the other side, still quite far to be able to get any good solo portraits of the Ibexes. We spent some time shooting them. I got a few wide-angle shots of the herd with the landscape. We also sat down for about 30 minutes to relax and enjoy the views.

As we were returning, we saw a single red fox walking on the snow by the side of the road. We quickly stopped the van and got down to take some pictures of the Red Fox as it walked away.

In the afternoon, we got another call about the sighting of a few Red Foxes in the same area where we spotted the single Red Fox in the morning. When we reached the spot, we found several photographers had already set up equipment on the roadside, and a single male fox was resting on the rock. We clicked a few pictures of this fox, when someone spotted a female fox coming down a faraway slope. This female fox came down the slop crossed the valley, and climbed up to reach the spot where the male fox was. I was told that these were a mating pair. The female fox just went below some rocks and we lost sight.

At this time, we saw another pair of foxes - a male and a female - coming down the slope. Suddenly, several dogs also appeared, chased the foxes, and split them up. The female fox escaped the dogs and reached a rocky slope where it was looking for the male to join. Meanwhile, the male fox got down to a steep slope to escape the dogs, and then it circled back and came to the spot where the female fox was waiting. After a brief courtship, the foxes mated. And out of nowhere, another male fox intruded on them, and the mating pair fell down the steep slope. They somehow recovered, and the male fox chased away the intruding male fox.

After this drama, both the foxes lay down, curled, and rested. And they stayed in this position for a long time. As it was getting dark, we called it a day and returned. What a drama this turned out to be. This was almost like watching a Bollywood movie!

Some pictures of the Ibexes and the Foxes.

The walk in the snow to shoot the Ibexes.




A few landscape shots of the Ibexes.










Relaxing and enjoying the views.


We also spotted a snow elephant


A few pictures of the single red fox walking on the snow.






The fox resting on the rock.


A pair of red foxes.


Courting foxes.


The intruding male, the villain!


The foxes curled up to rest after all the drama!

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Day 4: A relaxed day of birding

On Day 4, as we did not get any word of snow leopard sightings, we decided to go out in the field and do some birding, and if any word on snow leopard sightings is received, we will proceed to the location.

We reached a spot where there was a stream running by the road, with lots of bird activity. There were lots of white winged redstarts, male and female, and rose finches among the bushes. We walked around photographing these small birds. Then we sat down near the stream, having hot tea and biscuits while enjoying the grand scenery. We also got some close pictures of the birds on the ground. As we waited for word from the field, we had our packed lunch, and rested. As we did not get any word on snow leopard sighting, we returned back to the homestay. We then went for a stroll in the village and spotted a Robin Accentor perched on a bush. We spent some time photographing this beautiful bird and returned back to the homestay to have our dinner and call it a day. Below are a few pictures of the birding activity.

Relaxing by the stream with tea and biscuits.


Tea with a view.


The team.


Lunch time.


Lying down on the ground to shoot the birds at ground level.


The result. A few shots of the White Winged Redstart






A pair of White Winged Redstarts - male, and female.


A male redstart trying to impress a female.


A Rosefinch.


A stroll through the village.




Some kids were having an animated discussion after school.


Few views of the village.




The view of our homestay from the village. The left most building in the picture is our homestay.


The village temple.


Prayer wheels. These prayer wheels are inscribed with mantras. It is believed that when someone rotates the wheels, the energy of the mantras is released into the world.


A beautiful Robin Accentor.







Day 4: Key Monastery

On the way back to homestay from the stream, we stopped at Key Monastery. This monastery, like all other monasteries, is perched on a mountain and has a long history of being invaded. The monastery serves as a place of worship for a few villages around Kibber. One of our porters took us through the monastery and explained several interesting facts. One of them is that the 2nd born male child of any family is left at the monastery for education. The children will stay at the monastery and have their education. When they attain age, they can make the choice to either stay in the monastery and become a monk or return back to worldly life. There are several temples inside the monastery where the monks pray and meditate. I spent some time in some of these meditation rooms enjoying the calmness.

As photography was prohibited inside the monastery, I was able to click some pictures of the monastery from outside. Below are a few pictures.

The monastery perched on the mountain.


The road to the monastery.


The history of the monastery. This monastery is more than a 1000 years old.


The entrance to the monastery.




A few breathtaking views from the monastery.

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Day-5: A walk in the village after a night of snow, and a game of cards

On the night of Day #4, there was heavy snow in Kibber and the surrounding areas. So we woke up to a cold and gloomy day that was still snowing. As we did not expect any field visits in the morning, we decided to walk in the village in the snow. Everything was covered in a thick layer of snow, and not a soul was out. It was only us and maybe a couple of cows and a few dogs on the streets. After some time, I decided to return to the homestay as others continued roaming around the village. After returning back to the homestay, I spent some time at the Homestay owner's dining room chatting with him about their life in those harsh conditions while having a cup of tea and biscuits. We also played a round of cards. Overall, it was a very relaxing first half of day.

Words can't explain the scenes we saw. It felt right out of a book of fairy tales. I will let the pictures speak now.

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Day 5: A snowstorm, an Eurasian Eagle Owl, and a Red Fox

After returning from the village walk, we had the packed lunch at the homestay itself and had a small afternoon nap - the first day we had this luxury. Then in the evening, we got a call about an Eurasian Eagle Owl. This is one of the very rare birds in this region, and we decided to go into the field to photograph this rare bird. It was snowing heavily, and the intensity was increasing by the hour. As the roads were covered in thick snow, it was risky to go in the Tempo Traveler. They arranged for a pickup truck with 4x4 drive for this trip.

We reached the spot where the owl was spotted. The owl was perched in a small crevice in the rocks at a very far distance. We set up our cameras and tripods and clicked a few pictures. As we were returning back, we saw a herd of blue sheep crossing the road, and stopped to click some pictures of the sheep in the snow.

After this, on the way, we found the red fox at its usual spot, but covered in heavy snow this time. We trekked to the edge of the cliff to get a closer shot of the fox. By this time, the snow had intensified and had turned into a snow storm. Even with the gloves on, my hands almost froze. As everyone was waiting for the fox to wakeup, I returned back to the pickup truck to pour some hot water on my hands to bring back the circulation.

After this we returned back to the home stay, had our dinner and hit the bed.

A few pictures from this trip. I will first share the bird and animal pictures followed by the landscape pictures.

The Eurasian Eagle Owl.


Blue sheep in snow.




Red fox in snow.




Our ride for this trip. A pickup truck.


Vehicles parked at the spot where Eurasian Owl was. There were at least 25 photographers who had set up in the snow storm to capture the owl.


Hiking down to the cliff edge to get close to the fox.


My camera pointed towards the Red Fox, in the snow!


Yours truly in the snowstorm


Photographers waiting patiently for the fox to move.


Couldn't resist a selfie. Note the photographers on the cliff edge in the background.


The photographers in the snow storm.




The condition of the road as we drove back to the homestay.

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Day 6: A rest day, and an evening of celebration

As the snowing continued, all roads were covered in snow, and we did not get any news about snow leopard sightings. So, we decided to just relax on the final day in Kibber. We went out for a short drive with the whole team to get a team picture and returned to the homestay. Below is the picture with the complete team - the 6 photographers, the 6 porters, and our van driver.


In the evening, we had a small party where we honoured all the team members - the porters, the spotters, and the homestay owner. Without their support, this expedition would not have been possible. We ate some good food, and danced a lot. It was a cheerful and wonderful evening.

A few pictures from this evening of celebration.













The people I met:

The people I meet and interact with are a big part of any trip. I met a lot of interesting people in this expedition, made new friends, and created lots of memories. I would like to write about a few of them who made this trip possible.

Mr. Vipul of Wild Ark: He is the organizer of this expedition. He is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to wildlife and photography. He gave us lots of information about the wildlife we were shooting and taught us photographing techniques on composition, exposure, various settings to use for various subjects, etc. He also took great care of all our needs to keep us as comfortable as possible in the harsh conditions.


My porter Mr. Lobzang Sandup: He was with me all six days, carrying my camera, tripod, and backpack. At that altitude and low oxygen levels, even walking becomes difficult. Carrying the gear on the treks would have been almost impossible. Mr. Lobzang was always there to support me during the toughest sections or slippery slopes guiding me through the trails and supporting me from slipping and falling etc. Without him, this expedition would not have been possible.


Porter Dela: He was a young man who was always bubbling with energy. When I was struggling in the field to locate those elusive leopards, he was the one who helped me to locate the leopards by zooming in on the screen of a phone and showing me the exact locations.


Mr. Tenzin, the homestay owner: He took great care of us throughout our stay. He took care of all our needs with a smiling face. He used to be up very early in the morning, lighting up the stoves in all the rooms, preparing hot water and tea. I learnt a lot from him about the way of life in Kibber. It was fun playing cards with him. In him, I made a great friend. I hope I return to Kibber in the future and get to meet him again.

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Return Journey:

We started our journey back after breakfast. It was an uneventful drive to Rampur. We stopped briefly to photograph some ice stalctites. The most important part of this drive was the almost 20-minute bath I had in Rampur. After 8 days of no bath, this felt like heaven, and there should have been news the next day about an unprecedented water shortage in Rampur

The next day, we started from Rampur early in the morning and reached Chandigarh by afternoon. We had a small team lunch and said our goodbyes. Most of the members returned to their homes on evening flights. I had my flight early the next day. So, I stayed the night in Chandigarh and celebrated with lots of desserts. I caught my flight the following day and reached home in the afternoon.

A few pictures of the ice stalactites on the way to Rampur.




On the way back, we saw a small Buddhist shrine on a pass. There were lots of stones with inscriptions. I learned that Buddhists place these stones near shrines in passes where there is wind. They believe that the positive energy from these inscriptions on stones gets released into the world through the winds.







Celebrating with lots of desserts in Chandigarh





Challenges faced and conclusion:

Below are some of the challenges I faced in this trip.

• As water froze in the pipes, there was no running water available in Kaza or Kibber. So, we went without a bath for 8 days in a row. Also, we had to use a chemical toilet and wet wipes for these days. This was the toughest part of the whole expedition for me!
  
• The maximum temperature we faced was around -15 in the days and the minimum -28 in the nights. This is the first time, I am facing such low temperatures and it was a big challenge. Even though we were wearing several layers of warm clothes, we still felt the biting cold. On the day of snow storm, when we were out photographing, we could not wear the thicker gloves as it would not be possible to operate the cameras, and with the thinner gloves, the hands almost froze. Below is a sample - temperature at 6:00 AM
  
  
• All the wildlife we photographed were too far. My 100-500mm zoom lens and the low-resolution sensor in my camera were totally inadequate to capture them in any decent quality. My camera has a 20-megapixel sensor. When 1.6x crop is used, the effective resolution of the sensor becomes 7 megapixels. And with the heavy crop I had to do to bring the subject closer, I ended up with maybe less than a megapixel of final resolution on the images. Below picture shows my camera with 100-500 lens and another with a 600mm F4 prime.
  
  
• Expectations vs. Reality: Before the trip, I had seen several online pictures and videos of snow leopards. I went with great expectations to come back with stunning pictures. But on the very first day, when I saw how far the snow leopard was and how difficult it was to bring the leopard even into the frame of the camera, I was disheartened. Later in the evening, I learned how rare these snow leopard sightings were and that there were times when there were no sightings for days. We were actually lucky to have seen them on the first two days of our trip. He also explained that the close shots of the leopards found on the internet are from rare occasions, like winning a lottery.
  
• At those high altitudes (14500 to 15500 feet), oxygen level drastically drops, and even walking can be exhausting. And we had to trek on very steep slopes. Though I had developed a decent level of fitness from my training, I felt there was room for improvement. I will definitely increase my training volume if I do this trip again.

Conclusion:

Though I could not get stunning pictures of the snow leopards as I had dreamt at the beginning of the trip, I made a lifetime of memories living in those extreme weather conditions, from those exhausting treks, and met lots of interesting people. This is one of the best trips in my life, and I will do this again in the future.

On a lighter note, just realised after my daughter pointed out, Tai Lung of Kungfu Panda first part is a Snow Leopard


That's all folks, I have. Thank you for reading this long trip report.

[KarthikK]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[punchthebully]

Superb writing and beautiful pictures.

Yes spotting the snow leopard itself is very lucky and getting some good pictures(like yours!) is very rare.

Journey is always better than destination