28/10/2026
Towering above all others in the Kishtwar Himalaya, Sickle Moon / Bharanzar Peak rises to 6,574m (21,568 ft). An aura that makes you fall quiet, feel small, and want to keep exploring.
Tanay Das and I had tried twice to photograph it, denied the normal approach by political unrest. Attempt three meant a much harder route over a 5,100-metre pass.
Before we left, the forecast warned of a snowstorm. We’d planned to camp somewhere safer, assess conditions, then decide. Snow greeted us at advanced base camp. We debated turning back. Behind us lay one of the worst moraine fields I’ve crossed. Enough snow would make returning impossible. At the pass, our alternative exit vanished too: a heavily crevassed glacier, its crevasses concealed by fresh snow. If the storm hit hard, we’d be stuck. We hoped to get down before it did. Himalayan passes are no joke. It felt like a proper expedition.
After days on foot, there it was, standing tall above all. For a moment I just stood there. Layers of mountains in every direction and Sickle Moon directly ahead. I couldn’t believe this landscape was in my own country.
Places like this redefine what wilderness and raw nature mean. The chance to find a view few have seen, perhaps never photographed from this perspective, is one of my biggest motivations for landscape photography.
It was bitterly cold that morning. As the sky began to change colour and the first light reached the peaks, I stood watching a landscape that hardly seemed real. I’ve seen sunrises around the world, but this one will stay with me.
For ten or twelve minutes, I forgot the storm that had occupied my mind throughout our stay. All the failed attempts, planning and hard work felt worth it.
The storm did arrive that night. We were all scared. That belongs in the story too. Thankfully, the snowfall allowed us to descend safely the next day.
I came home with the photograph we’d hoped for, still learning about my own fears and weaknesses. There’s more of that inner mountain left to climb as Benjamin Védrines said.
A gigantic panorama captured with my DJI Mavic 4 Pro.