WE WERE READY TO FLY halfway around the world to northern India. Then, thanks to the live weather channel that is Instagram, we saw an unseasonable winter storm dump more than 2 feet of snow on our targeted destination. Our bikepacking trip between the farming towns of India’s Ladakh region had been swiftly whited out.
A local I was in touch with confirmed my fears that it was a no-go so I organized a hasty three-way phone call with photographer Kari Medig and our friend Carl Moriarty. Either the snow would melt and we’d be able to sneak in and out before the door slammed shut until springtime, or we’d have to find a new spot. I desperately emailed a seasoned Ladakhi guide named Tsering Angchok to get his take on our predicament.