Mason Paul - The International Yeti Collective

Ella Stern stopped and peered into the rolling mist. She was sure shed heard a crackle in the forest, a snapping of twigs. She held her breath and for a moment all was silent and still on the mountainside, then once again she heard the rip and crunch of leaves. There was a dark shape hiding in the trees ahead. She tried to call Uncle Jack but nothing came out.

A gentle breath of wind wafted over the mountains and a gap cleared in the mist, revealing a small dark face peering from a low branch, and a long tail dangling below. Ella laughed. It was a monkey a langur. For a moment, she had actually thought shed encountered a yeti. Shed already written the headline: Twelve-Year-Old Girl Discovers Existence of Mythical Creature Worldwide Sensation!

Ella raised her camera and rattled off a couple of quick shots as the monkey stuffed handfuls of leaves into its mouth, managing to capture the moment before it sprang off further into the forest. She couldnt wait to share all the photos with April and her other friends when she got back home to New Zealand.

Once she was sure the monkey had gone, she turned away, following the river back to camp. She passed the dense rhododendron trees, their flowers a blaze of colour even in the fading afternoon light, and then she was close enough to hear the crackle of the campfire and see its glow flickering over the tents. Uncle Jack sat on a log, holding his hands to the flames, chatting to Ana the director about tomorrows film shoot. Walker fiddled with one of his video cameras and listened.

Near the tents the yak grazed curved horns lowered, tails swishing. Ella brought her camera to her eye again she wanted to hold this moment and keep it forever. Here she was, up in the Himalayas, about as far away from home as it was possible to get.

When her parents had first suggested she spend the holidays on location with her TV-star uncle, Ella had actually been a little unsure. She rarely saw Uncle Jack he was always off in the wilderness, filming something or other. Ella loved his shows. There was Stern Stuff, where Uncle Jack survived the plains of Africa, living with a group of cheetahs. Then came the carnivorous plants series in the Amazon, From Stem to Stern, and her favourite: Stern Times, the polar adventure where he marched with the penguins. Uncle Jack cared about wildlife, and Ella knew if she came on this trip, it would be a great chance to get close to the animals herself. Not to mention this was the first time Jack had ever tried to film something as legendary as a yeti. Besides, shed finally got the digital camera shed been saving and saving for. What better place to use it?

In the end, Ella had a choice a summer stuck at home with sitters, while her parents made one business trip after another, or an expedition deep into the Himalayas on Jack Stern: Yeti Quest. No contest. And what if Uncle Jack actually found a yeti? Now that would be incredible.

On the trek to their campsite, Uncle Jack had told her all about his passion for yeti. Before the trip, Ella hadnt been at all convinced they were real, but, after listening to her uncle, she was beginning to change her mind. Uncle Jack told her how the people in the mountains knew yeti as wild men; that some thought yeti could be a species of giant ape, long believed extinct; how an expedition paid for by a famous newspaper discovered a footprint in the mud the length of a pickaxe; that it was rumoured yeti liked to sneak into mountain villages at night to steal cattle if they could.

Jack also told her the story of a famous yeti sighting by an explorer called Ray Stevens. Stevens had taken the first-ever photo of the mythical beast, but later it was pronounced a fake. According to Jack, Ray Stevens spent the rest of his life in disgrace.

But thats not going to happen to me!

As they had trekked, Uncle Jack constantly consulted a little black journal, checking his notes and looking at the map, then finally announcing they were getting closer to yeti habitat.

Ella turned her gaze from the campsite and looked around the mountains. What if Uncle Jack was right and they were close to yeti land? What would it even look like? Were there yeti right here, hiding in the forest? Could they be up higher, where the mountains looked like crumpled paper bags? Or further away still, where the highest peaks gleamed, bright with snow?

A shout broke into her thoughts. Hey, Ella, hows that firewood coming? Were almost out.

Firewood. Ella looked down at her empty hands.

Just a sec, Uncle Jack! she called back. Ella fixed the lens cap back on to her camera and started gathering twigs. By the time she reached the others, she had an armload, which she dumped by the fire.

Guess what? I spotted a langur! said Ella. She showed them the display on her camera.

Youre getting good at those wildlife shots, said Uncle Jack with a smile.

Nice, said Ana.

So, to wrap things up, Jack continued, feeding some wood into the fire, well start with the establishing shots in the morning I want you to really set the scene, Walker. Remote base camp in the Himalayas Jack Stern, hot on the heels of the yeti risking life and limb, et cetera.

I could get some long-range shots from downriver, with the mountain backdrop, suggested Walker, rubbing his beard.

Perfect, said Jack. He switched on his torch and opened his little black journal, tracing a line on a hand-drawn diagram with his finger, then comparing it to his map. And then, if theres still time on the first day, I reckon we leave the yak behind and explore the forest south of here on foot, trekking down towards the valley.

That could work, said Ana, studying the map.

Then we head off from camp on day treks, a different route each time. If any particular location looks promising, we can shift base.

Sounds like a plan, Jack, agreed Walker.

Can I help? asked Ella.

Ana got to her feet. Sure, you can start by giving me a hand setting up the night-vision cameras. Id like to get them in place before we lose any more daylight. See if we can capture any nocturnal activity.

Great, said Ella.

While Walker checked that the little black boxes were charged, Ana pointed at the trees above their camp. Walker, you set up a couple in the woods just above us while Ella and I go across the river. I like the look of the area near that rocky ledge.

Ella and Ana crossed the river at its shallowest point, stepping from stone to stone, and then climbed the riverbank. Ana chose a nearby tree and showed Ella how to fasten a band round the trunk, clip on the camera box and switch it on.

Now tie one of those cloth markers to a branch so we can find it in the morning.

Ella wrapped a piece of bright orange cloth round a twig and moved further along the slope, following the director. Do you think we might get one?

One what?

A yeti.

Ana pushed a strand of long dark hair behind her ear. She thought for a moment and then shook her head. At first when we started these expeditions, I thought maybe, just maybe, we might find something. Perhaps there was some truth to all the stories. But weve searched the south face of Everest, trekked across the high plateau of Tibet, got lost in the Karakorum ranges and not a hair. Im sorry to say that its likely to be the same here.