Day ten of the Ladakh Sky Trail GHT, a three-week hiking adventure in the Indian Himalaya unique to The Mountain Company. This was a long but hugely scenic day.

The night camping at Niri Doksa (4,400m) was the coldest of the hike so far, though still warmer than big hikes I’ve done in Nepal and Bhutan. One of the benefits of this Ladakh hike is that it runs in August, with generally warmer weather and longer days.

From camp we headed down the Niri River, crossing often and taking care on the rocky terrain.

There was a herd of yak.

The views improved as we headed up along a ridgeline, though the track was pretty sketchy so I spent much more time looking at my feet than at the scenery.

We stopped for lunch with a view.

Before heading further along the ridgeline.

We dropped back down briefly to the river.

Before a steep 350m climb up to the 4,850m Lar La.

The effort paid off at the pass with spectacular views.

The view improved with the play of sun and cloud on the landscape, though it was a steep and slippery descent so again I spent most of the time looking at my feet.

In the distance was the campsite of a group of French hikers with whom we shared a couple of days on the trail, though we barely saw each other.

Our campsite was further up the riverbed in a stunning setting.

I was exhausted by the time I reached camp at Ningri Doksa (4,370m) after seven hours of hiking at altitude. Full immersion in the freezing cold, glacier-fed stream helped, as did the impressively good food prepared by the crew.