Great Himalaya Trail
Encyclopedia
The Great Himalaya Trail is a proposed trail of more than 4500 km stretching the length of the Greater Himalaya range from Nanga Parbat in Pakistan to Namche Barwa in Tibet thus passing through Pakistan
, India
, Nepal
, Bhutan
and Tibet
in China
. When completed, it will be the longest and highest alpine walking track in the world,
As of July 2010, only the Nepal and Bhutan sections have been walked and documented thoroughly. The other countries are still being researched.
Unlike many other trails, the Great Himalaya Trail is a network of existing footpaths and trading routes and no new path building is envisaged.
Many expeditions have walked great distances across the Himalaya including:
The upper route passes from East to West through established trekking areas of Kanchenjunga to Makalu Barun
, Solukhumbu, Rolwaling Himal
, Helambu
, Langtang
, Ganesh Himal
, Manaslu
, Annapurna
, Dolpa, Rara Lake
and Humla finishing on the border with Tibet at Hilsa.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
and Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. When completed, it will be the longest and highest alpine walking track in the world,
As of July 2010, only the Nepal and Bhutan sections have been walked and documented thoroughly. The other countries are still being researched.
Unlike many other trails, the Great Himalaya Trail is a network of existing footpaths and trading routes and no new path building is envisaged.
History
The formation of a trail along the Greater Himalaya Range was precluded by access restrictions to certain areas in Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan requiring detours into the mid-hills away from the Greater Himalaya Range. With time these access restrictions were eased or lifted, and in 2002, with further restrictions being lifted in border areas of Nepal, it became feasible for the first time.Many expeditions have walked great distances across the Himalaya including:
- 1981 Peter HillaryPeter HillaryPeter Hillary is the son of the late adventurer Sir Edmund Hillary, who, along with Tenzing Norgay, completed the first successful ascent of Mount Everest. When Peter Hillary summited Everest in 1990, he and his father were the first father/son duo to achieve the feat...
(son of Sir Edmund), Chhewang Tashi and Graeme Dingle walked from SikkimSikkimSikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...
to the KarakoramKarakoramThe Karakoram, or Karakorum , is a large mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, India and China, located in the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan , Ladakh , and Xinjiang region,...
. - 1981-82 Hugh Swift and Arlene BlumArlene BlumArlene Blum is an American mountaineer, writer, and environmental health scientist. She is best known for leading an all-woman ascent of Annapurna , a climb that was also the first successful American ascent...
completed a nine-month traverse from BhutanBhutanBhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
to LadakhLadakhLadakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...
in IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. - 1983 British brothers Richard and Adrian Crane ran the Himalayas, from before Kanchenjunga to beyond Nanga ParbatNanga ParbatNanga Parbat is the ninth highest mountain on Earth, the second highest mountain in Pakistan and among the eight-thousanders with a summit elevation of 8,126 meters...
in less than 100 days. The route required a large deviation from the Great Himalaya Range to cross the Nepal-India border. - 1990 Sorrell Wilby and Chris Ciantar, made a traverse from PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
to Arunachal PradeshArunachal PradeshArunachal Pradesh is a state of India, located in the far northeast. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south, and shares international borders with Burma in the east, Bhutan in the west, and the People's Republic of China in the north. The majority of the territory is claimed by...
. - 1994. In autumn 1994, from October 21th to December 1th, the French runners Paul-Eric Bonneau and Bruno Poirier will add up 2.100 km and 55.000 meters of positive uneven through the Himalaya Népalais. A Himalaya which will be crossed by them from East to West, from Pashupatinagar to Mahakali, while tightening the highest mountain range of the World with difficult weather conditions.
- 1997 Alexandre Poussin and Sylvain Tesson walked a 5000 km route from Bhutan to Tajikistan.
- 2003 Rosie Swale-PopeRosie Swale-PopeRosie Swale-Pope, MBE, born , is an author, adventurer and marathon runner who successfully completed a five-year around-the-world run, raising £250,000 for a charity that supports orphaned children in Russia and to highlight the importance of early diagnosis of prostate cancer...
ran the length of Nepal in the mid-hills and Great Himalaya range, with a support team, covering an estimated 1700 km in 68 days to raise money for the charity Nepal Trust. - 2007 Dr Gillian Holdsworth walked across Nepal with guide, Sonam Sherpa, to raise money for the Britain Nepal Medical Trust. http://www.britainnepalmedicaltrust.org.uk/trek.html http://welcomenepal.com/mc/archive/2007/nov30.htm#a
- 2008-09 Nepal's Great Himalaya Trail route was first walked, following five years of research treks, over two seasons by a team led by Robin Boustead. The walk took a total of 162 days and is documented in a book of the same title.http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/mar/11/great-himalayan-trail-nepal http://www.nepalitimes.com/issue/2009/10/16/Nation/16399
- 2011 Justin Lichter and Shawn Forry at the time of writing are attempting to walk '8000 m East to 8000 m West' from Kanchenjunga to Nanga ParbatNanga ParbatNanga Parbat is the ninth highest mountain on Earth, the second highest mountain in Pakistan and among the eight-thousanders with a summit elevation of 8,126 meters...
http://www.shawnforry.com/Margin_Walker...A_Hikers_Chronicles/Current_Trip.html
Bhutan
Trekking in Bhutan is organised into ‘official’ routes that you can combine to traverse the country. Robin Boustead summarises the route as: “After arriving in Paro, head to Shana and Drugyal Dzong and the beginning of the Jhomolhari Trek. Continue around over the Nyele Pass to join and then follow the Ghasa Hot Springs trail to Thanza and the Snowman Trek. From the high lakes descend to Ungar on the Gankar Punsum route before following the Rhodang La Trek to Trashi Yangtse in the east. This route takes about 40 days depending on fitness.” http://greathimalayatrail.com/country.php?cId=1Nepal
As of September 2010 only Robin Boustead and his team (Pema Tsiring Sherpa, Lakpa Sherpa and Karma Sherpa) have walked the full trail that links each himal from Kanchenjunga to Api and no-one has walked a similar route in a single go.The upper route passes from East to West through established trekking areas of Kanchenjunga to Makalu Barun
Makalu Barun
Makalu Barun National Park is the eighth national park in the Himalayas of Nepal and was established in 1992 as eastern extension of the Sagarmatha National Park...
, Solukhumbu, Rolwaling Himal
Rolwaling Himal
Rolwāling Himāl is a section of the Himalaya in east-central Nepal along the Tibet border. It lies west of the Mahalangur section and east of the Langtang section. Melungtse 7181m and Melungtse II 7023m are inside Tibet and Gauri Shankar 7134m is on the border...
, Helambu
Helambu
Helambu is a region of highland villages in Nepal, close to Kathmandu. It is the home of the Hyolmo. The word Helambu derives from the word Yolmo or Hyolmo. The Helambu region begins at the Lauribina La pass and descends to the Melamchi valley...
, Langtang
Langtang
Langtang is a region in Nepal to the north of Kathmandu and bordering Tibet. It is protected as Langtang National Park and has a number of high peaks including Langtang Lirung . As of 2010, the entrance ticket to the park cost 2400 Nepali Rupees for foreigners.About 4,500 people live inside the...
, Ganesh Himal
Ganesh Himal
Ganesh Himāl is a sub-range of the Himalaya located mostly in north-central Nepal, but some peaks lie on the border with Tibet. TheTrisuli Gandaki valley on the east separates it from the Langtang Himal; the...
, Manaslu
Manaslu
Manaslu , also known as Kutang) is the eighth highest mountain in the world, and is located in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas, in the west-central part of Nepal. Its name, which means "Mountain of the Spirit", comes from the Sanskrit word Manasa, meaning "intellect" or "soul"...
, Annapurna
Annapurna
Annapurna is a section of the Himalayas in north-central Nepal that includes Annapurna I, thirteen additional peaks over and 16 more over ....
, Dolpa, Rara Lake
Rara Lake
Rara Lake is the biggest lake of Nepal. It lies in Rara Village Development Committee, Mugu District in Western Nepal and falls under the Rara National Park....
and Humla finishing on the border with Tibet at Hilsa.