{"id":23647,"date":"2019-02-18T10:15:39","date_gmt":"2019-02-18T15:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/?p=23647"},"modified":"2020-09-02T07:42:17","modified_gmt":"2020-09-02T11:42:17","slug":"the-route-to-dhaulagiri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/blog\/the-route-to-dhaulagiri\/","title":{"rendered":"The Route to Dhaulagiri"},"content":{"rendered":"

All photos by Jack Wheeler<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"The
Dhaulagiri \u2013 North\/Northeast Face \u00a0\u00a92019 Jack Wheeler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the past three weeks, in our exploration of the greatest mountains of the Himalayas, we\u2019ve learned the route to <\/span>Everest, Lhotse, and Cho Oyu<\/span><\/a>, that to <\/span>Makalu and Kanchenjunga<\/span><\/a>, and to <\/span>Manaslu and Annapurna<\/span><\/a>. In our final route, we\u2019ll explore <\/span>Dhaulagiri<\/span><\/i> \u2013 and two fascinating regions nearby.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"TheRemember this sat photo from last week?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"TheWe overflew the Annapurna Circuit along the north side of the Annapurna Range, then dropped down into that huge valley starting at the \u201cM\u201d in Mustang, and around to the gash starting to the left of \u201cA\u201d in Annapurna to go up into the Annapurna Sanctuary.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s stop once we drop down into that valley. The river that flows through it is the <\/span>Kali Gandaki<\/span><\/i>. Note that it cuts straight through the Himalayas from the Tibetan Plateau in the north to the plains of India in the south. \u00a0That\u2019s because it\u2019s far older than the Himalayas (which are some 50 million years old) \u2013 <\/span>ammonite fossils<\/span><\/a> over a hundred million years old have been found at its headwaters.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the reverse view looking from its Tibet headwaters towards India.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"TheThe big white mountain on the left is Annapurna, while that on the right is Dhaulagiri. Between them is the Kali Gandaki Gorge, the <\/span>deepest canyon on earth<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

And at those Tibetan headwaters (i.e., at the bottom of the view above) in the region of Mustang lies <\/span>