Immense rivers of moving ice,
laden with rock,
grind their way
down the mountains,
gouging out deep valleys.
They're the most powerful erosive force
on our planet.
A moulin - a shaft in the ice
opened by melt water
as it plunges
into the depths of the glacier.
Like the water running through it,
the ice itself is constantly moving,
flowing down the valley
with unstoppable force.
Alpine glaciers may seem immense,
but they're dwarfed by those in the great ranges
that divide the Indian
subcontinent from Tibet.
This is the boulder strewn snout
of the giant Baltoro glacier
in the Karakoram mountains of Pakistan.
It's the biggest mountain glacier
on Earth -
43 miles long and over 3 miles wide.
This huge ice-filled valley
is so large
it's clearly visible from space.
This is the greatest concentration
of peaks over 5 miles high
to be found anywhere on Earth.
They're the most
dangerous mountains of all.
K2 and her sister peaks
have claimed more lives than any others.
The peaks here rise so precipitously,
the glaciers are so steep and crevassed
that few except the most skilled
mountaineers can penetrate these ranges.
Markhor gather
for their annual rut.
Males must fight
for the right to breed,
but on these sheer cliffs
any slip by either animal could be fatal.
A snow leopard -
the rarest of Himalayan animals.
It's a female returning to her lair.
These are the first intimate images
of snow leopard ever filmed in the wild.
She greets her one year old cub.
Her den is well chosen.
It has exceptional views
of the surrounding cliffs.
On these treacherous slopes
no hunter other
than the snow leopard
would have a chance
of catching such fragile prey.
A female with young
makes an easier target.
Her large paws give
an excellent grip
and that long tail
helps her balance.
Silently she positions herself
above her prey.
She returns with nothing.
Golden eagles patrol these cliffs
in search of the weak or injured.
With a 2 meter wing span
this bird could easily
take a young markhor.
Eagles hunt by sight
and the thickening veil
of snow forces them to give up.
For the leopard
the snow provides cover
and creates an opportunity.
The worsening weather dampens
the sound of her approach
allowing her to get
within striking distance.
It was an act of desperation
to try and catch such a large animal.
Wolves have made a kill
giving other hunters
a chance to scavenge.
The worst of the blizzard brings
success for the snow leopard,
but having descended so far
to make the kill
she has a grueling climb
to get back to her lair.
The cub must be patient.
It'll be a year
before it has the strength and skill
to kill for itself
on these difficult slopes.
The snow leopard is
an almost mythical creature,
an icon of the wilderness,
an animal few humans
have ever glimpsed
for its world is
one we seldom visit.
The Karakoram lie
at the western end of a range
that stretches
across a tenth of our planet -
the Himalayas.
These, the highest mountains
of the world,
like other great ranges,
were created by the collision
of continents.
Some 50 million years ago
India collided with Tibet
thrusting up these immense peaks,
which are still rising.
This vast barrier
of rock and ice
is so colossal
it shapes the world's climate.
Warm winds from India,
full of moisture,
are forced upwards
by the Himalayas.
As the air rises so it cools,
causing clouds to form
and the monsoon is born.
At high altitudes
the monsoon rains fall as snow.
Here, at the far eastern end
of the range in China,
one inhabitant endures
the bitter winters out in the open.
Most other bears would be
sleeping underground by now,
but the giant panda can't
fatten up enough to hibernate.
Its food, bamboo, on which it totally relies
has so little nutritional value
that it can't build up
a store of fat like other bears.
Most of the creatures here move up or down
the slopes with the seasons
but the panda is held
captive by its diet
for the kind of bamboo it eats
only grows at this altitude.
But these forests hold
fewer challenges for the more mobile.
The golden snap-nosed monkey,
like the giant panda, lives only in China.
Their thick fur allows them to survive
at greater altitudes than any other monkey
and when the cold bites
they have these upper slopes to themselves.
Even if you have a warm coat
it apparently helps to surround yourself
with as many layers as possible.
But at least these monkeys
have a choice -
if they tire of tree bark
and other survival food
they can always descend
to lower warmer altitudes
and not return there till spring.
As the snows retreat
trees come into bloom.
Cherry blossom.
Rhododendrons -
here in their natural home
they form great forests
and fill the landscape
with the covers of a new season.
These forests are a host
to a rich variety of springtime migrants.
Beneath the blooms - another display.
It's the mating season
for oriental pheasants,
Himalayan monal,
tragopan
and blood pheasant.
Musk deer make the most
of a short flash of spring foods.
This male smells a potential mate.
The red panda,
rarely glimpsed in the wild.
It was once considered
a kind of raccoon,
but is now believed
to be a small mountain bear.
By midsummer its larger, more famous
relative, has retreated into a cave.
A giant panda nurses
a tiny week old baby.
Her tender cleaning
wards off infection.
She won't leave this cave
for three weeks,
not while her cub
is so utterly helpless.
Progress is slow
for milk produced on a diet
of bamboo is wretchedly poor.
Four weeks old
and the cub is still blind.
Its eyes do not fully open
until three months after birth,
but the chances of the cub
reaching adulthood are slim.
The struggle of a giant panda
mother to raise her cub
is a touching symbol of the precariousness
of life in the mountains.
On the highest summits
of our planet
nothing can live permanently.
The highest peak of all,
Mount Everest, five and a half
miles above sea level
and still rising -
the roof of our world.
Of those humans who've tried to climb it
one in ten have lost their lives.
Those that succeed can stand
for only a few moments on its summit.
The Nepalese call it 'a mountain
so high no bird can fly above it.'
But each year
over 50,000 demoiselle cranes
set out on one of the most
challenging migrations on Earth.
To reach their overwintering
grounds in India
they must cross the Himalayas.
By late morning ferocious winds
are roaring past the peaks.
The cranes must gain height
to avoid the building storm.
They've hit serious turbulence.
They must turn back
or risk death.
A new day
and a new opportunity.
The flock stay in close contact
by calling one another.
Weak from lack of food and water,
they use thermals, rising columns
of warm air, to gain height.
For many this is their first journey
across the Himalayas.
For some, it will be their last.
The golden eagles
have been expecting them.
The eagles work in pairs
to separate a young crane from the flock.
It escapes the touches of one,
and is caught by another.
But even a young crane
is a heavy prize
and the eagle has
to struggle to control it.
The mother can wait no longer -
this is a desperate race
against worsening weather.
The rest of the flock
battle on.
In the ascent every wing beat
becomes an exhausting struggle.
At last they are over the highest
barrier that lies in their way.
But like all who visit
the world of the high mountains
they dare not linger.
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1st Part : https://steemit.com/nature/@rezuanmollah/beauty-of-nature-mountains-part-1
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