Standing along the trail of Everest Base Camp, Mount Ama Dablam (6,812m) seldom grabs media attention as Mount Everest (8,848m) and Mount Lhotse (8,516m) towers above. But the first time you catch a glimpse, Ama Dablam immediately draws your imagination. For many, Ama Dablam isn’t just a mountain, it’s a symbol of adventure, beauty, and the spirit of the Himalayas. It’s no wonder that this mountain continues to inspire countless works of art and photography. I experienced the same feeling while hiking the Everest Base Camp trail with my two friends, Andreas and Carlos.

Big and strong, Andreas decided to carry almost 20 kg of essential items (such as a sleeping bag, two dry towels, three cans of kidney beans, a comprehensive first-aid kit, a solar-powered portable battery, and more) and non-essential items (like three board games and a pair of baseball gloves) in his rucksack. Nimble and athletic, Carlos kept his rucksack light as advised, relying on the logistical support available on the ground. This led to Carlos setting the pace, with Andreas trailing behind during our mostly uphill journey. But in the rare downhill stretches, the tables turned as Andreas surged ahead, almost appearing to run toward his goals! I often found myself sandwiched between the two.

On the morning of our third day of hiking, about 30 km away from the starting point of Lukla, we spent a good hour hiking downhill until we reached a long suspension bridge. It looked fantastic. I quickly took out my mobile phone and captured the first picture of the day – the bridge. It connected the bases of two mountains and a path taken by all – the mountaineers attempting to scale Mount Everest, the enthusiastic hikers like us, the locals, the porters (famed internationally as Sherpas), and even Yaks.

Carlos was first to reach the bridge, from where you could get the first glimpse of the mountain upfront. He took his first photo of Ama Dablam from the bridge, and the view he captured is often seen among top-rated mountain photographs. It has a classic composition of a scenic mountain picture: two smaller hills running on either side of a river as a huge mountain stands in the center of the frame offering a perpetual water source. With the prayer flags strung along the bridge, the scene offers a view so striking that I can imagine anyone pausing for a moment to take it all in.

Andreas, on the other hand, observed Yaks feeding on the hill. The picture of a Yak grazing on the hill with Mount Ama Dablam in the backdrop is straight out of fantasy. Even an AI tool like DALL·E might Everest region hiking struggle to generate a picture of a mountain capturing such an intricate play of nature.

As we hiked past the bridge, I found myself at the back of the pack. Carlos continued to set the pace while Andreas, sprinting ahead until the bridge, was fighting his own uphill battle. This is the moment I was drawn into the magnificence of Mount Ama Dablam – with hikers walking up the hill as it gently rises, with no sight of how the path unfolds over the hill. Ama Dablam stood in front of the path, almost appearing like the path would gently lead us to the grace of the mountain.

For the next five kilometers, Ama Dablam kept us company on the right as we hiked up towards Pheriche – our stop for the day. Already above 4000m, our pace was slow but steady. With every few steps, I couldn’t stop glancing at Ama Dablam, often called the Matterhorn of the Himalayas. The massive conical peak flanked by four ridges gave it a near-perfect symmetry from almost any angle. From where we were, the two ridges curved delicately forward, forming what looked like a necklace hanging loose on a shoulder. Hence, the name Ama Dablam – Mother’s Necklace, as Nepalese lovingly call it, associating all things in nature with a mother.

After a decent hike, we appeared to be diverting away from the sight of Ama Dablam, so we decided to stop once more to rehydrate and take a final glance at the mountain that mesmerized all of us for the last two hours. I took a seat at one of the boulders and observed the mountain.

It is at that moment that I developed my own deep connection to the mountains, and perhaps this may be the spirit of the Himalayas: an open API to the wonders of nature, ready to be explored by those who dare.