A Moment of Solitude | Nat Geo Photo of the Day

An older man wearing a green hat and purple jackets sits next to a small fire with a cat in his lap.

A Moment of Solitude

Karma Tshering Sherpa sits with his cat in Phortse, Nepal. In 2014, photographer Aaron Huey visited Everest Base Camp and the surrounding Sherpa communities in the Khumba region for a National Geographic story about conflict with Western climbers. The story published after an avalanche on April 18 resulted in the deaths of 16 Sherpas, leading to questions about the lack of safety measures enforced on Mount Everest. Those concerns continue; in May 2026, one Sherpa was reportedly left to die on the mountain, until a search operation found him alive six days later.

Aaron Huey, Nat Geo Image Collection