Mountains of the murgha zerin: between the hindu khush and the karakoram

Between the Hindu Kush and the Karakoram, among the most concentrated collection of high mountains in the world, lives the Murgha Zerin, the Golden Cock or Impeyan Pheasant, the most brilliant of all the pheasants, with its delicate crest of iridescent green feathers much prized by local inhabitants. Like the people of this area, scattered thinly over Pakistan's northern frontiers, the Murgha Zerin lives much as it did a hundred years ago, almost inaccessible, under the shadow of Tirich Mir, Rakaposhi and Nanga Parbat, and cut off like them in hidden valleys for over six months of the year. Elizabeth Balneaves and her son set out to explore these valleys and the peoples who occupy them.