Quest for the Snow Leopard Part 3

I can say without reservation that this trip to Ladakh’s Hemis National Park was a great return to the Himalayas. I found the snow leopards extraordinarily difficult to photograph at close range. And yet with time and serendipity it is quite possible a snow leopard could walk directly through camp. Unfortunately, we experienced neither. We literally worked our butts off. I lost about 7 pounds in a week, hiking the trails every day at elevations between 12 and 14,000 feet. The dance ceremony was at the Likir Monastery, near Leh. Held annually, it commemorates the “letting go” of the previous year’s hardships. While at times disappointing, on a whole, the trip was fascinating and ultimately rewarding.