Into the Mist

While hiking the Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt in June 2026, I took a proper resupply and battery-charging break in Les Haudères before starting the brutal 1,300-meter (4,300-foot) climb toward Col du Tsaté. It had rained a little that morning, but during the climb it remained mostly dry and there was barely any wind. Before long, I found myself completely surrounded by clouds. I love being in the clouds in the mountains. Everything becomes incredibly quiet. The sounds of rivers, villages, and the surrounding landscape are muffled, and every pass and valley becomes a mystery, with the terrain only revealing itself every now and then through small openings in the clouds. At the pass, I stopped for a break and watched the clouds slowly dancing through the valley below. Then, through an opening in the mist, I suddenly spotted these two chamois walking along the mountainside high above the clouds. Such a beautiful sighting.