Huge Himalayan vultures wheel eye-level with the road, while tiny tits inhabit a range of vegetation, from conifers and cedars to broadleaved oaks and rhododendrons.
Over the course of the day, the trail bent to the contours of the gorge, taking us through fragrant forests of deodar a Himalayan cedar tree and tall rai conifers, toward the snowy mountaintops that were our ultimate destination.