Buddhist Sherpas guide Westerners (NatGeo) |
The Himalayas (Sanskrit,
hima "snow" + ālaya "dwelling," the "abode of the snow" and home of the Yeti) is a
mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent
from the Tibetan Plateau claimed by China.
The Himalaya, as it is also known, is home to some of the planet's highest peaks, including the highest, Mt. Everest. The range includes over 100 mountains exceeding a height of 7,200 meters (23,600 ft). By contrast, the highest peak outside of Asia -- Aconcagua, in the Andes -- is 6,961 meters (22,838 ft.). These mountains have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia, many of its peaks being sacred to both Buddhists and Hindus.
Yeti (i.e., Abominable Snowman) scalp on display, Khumjung, Nepal, Himalayas |
Bigfoot, Laos (Jenny-H-Edwards) |
MONSTER QUEST (History Channel via Esoteric Haven) Gathering evidence over
the past century of the existence of the yaksha Yeti, the Abominable Snowman, we follow an
expedition into the Himalayas in search of this nocturnal creature attacking villagers and slaughtering yaks. The
Yeti is an ape-like cryptid taller than a human,
similar to the lowland Bigfoot, inhabiting the Himalayan region of Nepal and
Tibet. The names Meh-Teh (man-bear) and Mi-göi (Tibetan, "wild man"), Bun Manchi (Sherpa, "jungle man"), Mirka (Nepalese, "wild-man"), and Kang Admi (Snow Man) are commonly used by the indigenous Buddhist people, for whom these creatures are central in history and mythology. The cryptozoology community regards
the Yeti as a legend.
Early European Yeti trackers, Mount Everest, 1954 (DailyMail.co.uk) |
The Himalayan range is vast |
Apart from the
Greater Himalayas of these high peaks, there are parallel lower ranges.
The first foothills, reaching about 1,000 meters along the northern
edge of the plains, are called the Sivalik Hills or Sub-Himalayan
Range. Further north is a higher range reaching 2,000-3,000
meters known as the Lower Himalayan or Mahabharat Range.
Trying to summit from base camp |
They
abut or cross five countries: Bhutan, India, Nepal, China, and
Pakistan (formerly Gandhara, which includes Afghanistan and the Hindu
Kush, which is technically also a part of the Himalayas), with the first
three countries having sovereignty over most
of the range. They are bordered on the northwest by the
Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges, on the north by the Tibetan Plateau,
and on the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain.
Three of the world's
major rivers -- the Indus (from which "Hinduism" gets its name), the Ganges, and the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra all
rise near Mount Kailash to cross and encircle the Himalayas. Their
combined drainage basin is home to some 600 million people.
Lifted by the collision of the Indian tectonic plate with the Eurasian Plate, the range runs west-northwest to east-southeast in an arc 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles) long.
Where to find Bigfoot(s)
Reported sightings of Bigfoot -- the legendary apelike creature that's
been a favorite of cryptozoologists for decades -- have abounded for
decades [centuries if one counts the testimony of Native American tribes]. Now, for the first time, someone has created a map showing the
places where alleged Bigfoot sightings have occurred.
Joshua Stevens, a doctoral candidate at Pennsylvania State University, used data compiled by the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO), which
tries to document "the presence of an animal, probably a primate, that
exists today in very low population densities," according to the group's
website. [He] plotted 3,313 data points showing where people have claimed to see Bigfoot (aka Sasquatch, Skunk Ape, Yeti, Skookum...)More
Bigfoot exists
Sleeping Bigfoot "Matilda" colorized (CC) |
George Knapp interviews Dr. Ketchum about DNA (coasttocoastam.com)
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