This is a beautifully written book of Matthiessen's journey to the roof of the world in Nepal. He is travelling with George Schaller, primarily to look for and study the wild blue sheep of the region. Whilst they are on there, they are hoping to spot a snow leopard, a rare almost mythical creature, that Schaller has glimpsed very occasionally. Matthiessen is a Zen Buddhist, and this for him is as much a spiritually journey as a physical one, and he uses the metaphorical journey to look back at events in his life, including the death of his wife. It is tough moving over these landscapes because of the cold and the altitude, and he details his pain and suffering, as well as hi elation of being in a landscape he loves. Matthiessen's description of the landscape and the interaction with the natives is very evocative and immersive. I thought that the title was a bit of misnomer as they are trying to find the snow leopard, and though they do find evidence of them, they never see one.