Annapurna Circuit — Thorong La High Pass
75.52 د.ك
A trekker at the Thorong La Pass summit at 5,416 metres on the Annapurna Circuit — the highest regularly trekked pass in Nepal, the prayer flags, cairn, and the Muktinath Valley descending 1,600 metres below in the cold Himalayan air.
Description
The Thorong La Pass is the crux of the Annapurna Circuit — the 5,416-metre crossing that takes trekkers from the Manang Valley to the Mustang side over a pass that is closed by snow for several months annually and represents the physical high point of one of the world’s great mountain treks. This image was made at the summit in the post-dawn window when the weather is most stable — the cloud that typically builds over the Annapurna massif from midday was not yet visible. The trekker is at the summit cairn and prayer flag array, the valley below descending steeply to the Muktinath temple complex visible as a cluster of white buildings 1,600 metres lower. Shot on a 24mm prime at f/11, the extreme altitude quality of the air — dry, dust-free, and transparent to the horizon — gives the distant peaks a clarity that is impossible at lower altitudes.
