snow apron sliding

snow apron sliding

down the mountain to the white

water of the Sindh

After an hour's terrifying drive in a taxi through Srinagar traffic, I start seeing people harvesting grain in fields and Gujar nomads camped with their horses in open spaces. We pass through a few villages and soon we're following the Sindh River as it meanders through the valley on the way to the mountains, getting narrower and rockier as we climb higher. Our destination is Sonamarg, "the "Meadow of Gold," 81 km from Srinagar. At 2,370 m, Sonamarg is the last major point in the Kashmir valley before the road to the Zoji La pass into Ladakh and the base of a major trek along several mountain lakes. Halfway there we take a break at a rest stop, crossing a narrow bridge over the roaring whitewater, with a snow field coming down to the river. Clambering down to the rocks along the water's edge, I dangle my feet in the freezing water.