Hangarang ridge separates Kunawar from Piti -- Ascent to Hangarang Pass -- Alluvial deposit -- Steep ascent -- View of valley -- Limestone rocks -- _Caragana versicolor_, or _Dama_ -- Camp at 14,000 feet -- Top of pass -- View from pass -- Vegetation of summit -- Descent to Hango -- Cultivation round the village -- Luxuriant wild plants -- Road to Lio -- _Crambe_ -- Ravine of Piti river -- Lio -- Bridge over Piti river -- Ascent to Nako -- Nako -- Cultivation of the village -- Buddhist temple -- Transported blocks -- Chango -- Changar -- Stopped by villagers on Chinese frontier -- Natural bridge -- Kyuri -- Alluvium -- Clay deposit with shells -- Lari -- Ramifications of mountain ranges -- Alluvial platforms -- Pok -- Dankar -- Lara -- Rangrig -- Upper part of Piti -- Climate -- Saline exudations
The Hangarang ridge, as we may conveniently call that mountain range on which the pass of Hangarang is situated, forms the boundary between the districts of Kunawar and Hangarang. As this range terminates at or close to the point where the Sutlej is joined by the Piti river, this division is geographically convenient. It has also a marked physical signification, forming the absolute limit of the deodar and Gerard's pine; and indeed, if we except the juniper, of all tree vegetation.
On the 22nd of August, our party left Sungnam to ascend towards the Hangarang pass, encamping, as on the two previous occasions, on the upper part of the ascent, so as to get to the summit of the pass at an early hour next day. Our road lay up a narrow ravine, through which a small stream descended from the vicinity of the Hangarang pass, to join the Ruskalan immediately below Sungnam. We followed for a long time the course of this rivulet, so that the ascent was by no means fatiguing. A very few stunted deodars, and a single tree of _Pinus Gerardiana_, were the only trees met with. A little shrubby vegetation was now and then seen, consisting of an ash, rose, _Colutea_, _Lonicera_, and _Spiræa_. The banks of the ravine were everywhere composed of a conglomerate of angular stones, in general imbedded in soft clay, though the matrix was not unfrequently calcareous, and in several places even composed of crystalline carbonate of lime.