This looks like some volcano, actually its just a cloud and a stream caught in the right kind of light.

 
Was thrilling to see a frozen lake for the first time in my life.

As we ascended, the weather was getting increasingly foggy. At the area around the summit, there was a blizzard with sharp hailstones stinging any small millimetre of unexposed skin (though I was well protected). I had to borrow somebody’s cooling glass as they were stinging my eyes too. These were the strangest hailstones I had ever seen, they were like shaped like small ballbearings. Visibility was limited to some 20 feet at most. These patterns in the ice show the force of the wind in these higher altitudes. I was around 2000 ft above sea level.

We were walking along a ridge [a long narrow path joining two mountains] The view of the valleys on either side was supposed to be spectacular. Everybody's mood was generally off - that the weather was so bad and had spoilt the view.

I couldnt understand what they were complaining about - I tried to explain... "right now, this is the view... the fog - the blizzard - are beautiful by themselves... if you would only look - not at the valley down below but right here, right at our very feet!!" referring to the ice formations formed due to the fierce winds and hail. But there were no takers for this point of view... except one girl who knelt down besides me on the floor to take a closer look and exclaimed "indeed they are!"

 
But we had to hurry to rejoin the group, getting lost was all too easy in the fog, not that I would've minded too much ;-) ...but under less risky conditions!

 
Rest of the walking group.

 
There were some lone guys like this fellow, and sometimes a lone guy with a dog. The dogs were amazing, no walking boots, coat, muffler, gloves, nothing!