High ranges (also called “Dhar”) are distinct sets of connected high altitude ridgelines in the Himalayas which separate major valleys / districts. Rain, snow and glacier melt flows down from these high ranges to form streams in the valleys below. There are numerous migratory shepherd routes across these ranges crossing over via passes which form beautiful hiking destinations. A couple of few well known high ranges in Himachal:
Dhauladar – separating the Kangra plains and Kullu valley from Chamba valley (red line – bottom + right below)
Pir Panjal – separating Chamba valley from Lahaul / Pangi (Chenab river) (red – top below)
Baspa Range – separating Baspa valley (Kinnaur) from Shimla / Uttarakhand
Great Himalayan Range – separating Lahaul / Jammu (Chenab river) from Zanskar / Ladakh
During their annual summer migration from the plains to alpine meadows shepherds cross these ranges across ancient routes and passes. On Survey of India maps you can find the names of many smaller Dhar-s (see below)
Western Dhauladar
Let’s take a closer look at the Western Dhauladar range from Dharamshala till Palampur:
(Illustration below)
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=12/32.3049/76.4136&layers=Y
We can connect all snow covered ridgelines (red line) forming the Dhauladar range and see numerous passes from West to East:
Baleni pass
Minkiani Pass
Gaj pass
Bhimgasutri
Indrahar pass
Kundli pass
Talang Jot
Singhar Jot
Zoom into the map to see the trails across each of these passes from the Kangra plains (South) into the Chamba valley (North) in Open Street Maps. From the high ranges / passes you can see streams flowing down into valleys towards the Chamba valley / Kangra plains. We also observe various glaciers hanging from the Northern side of the Dhauladar (less solar exposure). No glaciers (permanent ice) are seen at the Southern side.
Hiking routes across (most of) these passes can be easily seen in waymarked hiking trails:
https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/#?map=12!32.2821!76.4538
Next, we can mark all above passes in OSMAnd (flags) and export the same as a KMZ:
(Save as Track, My Places, Options, Export as GPX)
https://tinyurl.com/westdhaula
Download this GPX file in Google earth (desktop or mobile) to see the Western Dhauladar and its passes in 3D / Satellite view. Here’s a short 360 degree video showing the same range in 3D for you to clearly visualize this snow covered high range:
https://tinyurl.com/WestDhauladarGE
Eastern Dhauladar
Proceeding further East the Dhauladar turns Northward to form a 5000m+ high natural boundary the Chamba and Kullu valleys:
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=12/32.2420/76.9334&layers=Y
Zooming in we can distinguish several passes across this part of the Dhauladar:
Thamsar pass
Barla Jot
Gairu pass
Markoni
Kathikukri
Kaliheni
Saurkundi
Saman Jot
Manali pass
Search and zoom into some of these passes to see the trails connecting both sides of his high range mostly climbing / descending into the valleys / streams flowing down from the Dhauladar. Hiking routes across few of these passes can be easily visualized in waymarked hiking trails:
https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/#?map=12!32.2198!76.8707
Marking the above passes in OSMAnd (flags) and export the same as a GPX file allows us to visualize the same in 3D into Google Earth:
https://tinyurl.com/EastDhaula
Assignment
Time for some hands-on now! Open the OSM link below showing the Eastern part of the might Pir Panjal range separating Chamba valley from Lahaul (Chenab river valley):
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=12/32.5782/76.7158&layers=Y
1. Mark the top ridgeline and identify all passes in between Lahaa Jot (East) and Kalicho (West) on the above map similar as we did above to Western and Eastern Dhauladar
2. Search all passes in OSMAnd, flag them and export as a GPX file and view the same in Google Earth (mobile or desktop)
