DHAULAGIRI TREKKING

Just west of Annapurna is the 40-mile-wide Dhaulagiri Himal. Dhaulagiri I, the sixth-tallest peak in the world, towers high above the well-trekked Muktinath pilgrim trail up the Kali Gandaki Valley. The vast massif screens the hidden lands of Dolpo to its north, and to the west of it are Nepal's far western hills. Only to the east along the Kali Gandaki Valley can we easily view the mountain close up, so massive Dhaulagiri with its symmetrical peak and four major outliners remains an enigma along much of its perimeter. Like fabled but restricted Dolpo, the complete month-long trek around Dhaulagiri is only for a handful of hikers. This is because much of the route traverses difficult, remote country.