In 1942, when a forest ranger was patrolling Trisur Peak on the Sino-Indian border, hundreds of human bones were accidentally found by a frozen lake, and then reported it to the British colonial Indian Governor's Office. However, Governor Victor Hope, who was busy arresting Gandh

1942, a forest ranger was inspecting Trisour Peak on the Sino-Indian border, hundreds of human bones were accidentally found by a frozen lake, and then reported it to the British colonial Indian Governor General Office. However, at that time, he was busy arresting Gandhi and Nehru's Governor Victor Hope did not care about these trivial matters. He only made a brief reply to "check the information of the deceased" and never asked again.

At the beginning, the British believed that the deceased was a Japanese outpost, and secretly sneaked into the Himalayas and died unexpectedly while spying on military information. Because this area is a high-altitude uninhabited area, the nearest town is more than 300 kilometers away. It is also separated from the nearest Zhada County, Tibet, China, and even the high mountain birds cannot fly over it. What's more, the locals will not collectively run to such a remote and cold frozen lake to seek death.

However, after the summer, more surprising news came: more bones were found after the frozen lake was thawed, with a total of tens of thousands, densely scattered around the lake.

1950, the British Anthropological Investigation Bureau in India organized an archaeological study to reorganize and splice the first batch of collected bones. It was found that the height of these bones was significantly higher than that of the Japanese. Although they were all adults, no characteristics of soldiers were found, and the suspicion of Japanese soldiers was ruled out.

Due to technical limitations and India's independence, the investigation into the Frozen Lake Skeleton incident was stranded, and it did not attract attention again until the Carbon 14 detection method matured.

In 2003, the United States " National Geographic " joined forces with more than a dozen archaeological experts from Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom to enter Skull Lake for a systematic investigation, restored the site and brought back 38 complete remains. When returning from the original road, archaeological experts also visited more than a dozen villages and towns within a radius of hundreds of kilometers, hoping to obtain valuable information from them.

Surprisingly, the same saying spreads among these villages and towns that have many snowy mountains and dense rivers: In the 6th century AD, this was once the center of the Kannaoi Dynasty. Legend has it that the king took hundreds of pregnant wives, servants, guards and dancers to pilgrimage to the Nandadwi Snow Mountain (this tradition continues to this day). Unexpectedly, he was trapped in the valley by a hailstorm, and the entire team was buried in the center of the Trident Snow Mountain.

Trident Snow Mountain is three snow mountains in the Himalayas. It is named after it looks like a trident. It represents the weapon of Lord Shiva in ancient Indian mythology. The Skeleton Lake, which was found to be located at the thorn on the right side of the Trident Snow Mountain, is composed of melt water from the Trisur Peak glacier. It is in the freezing period from October to July of the following year. It will only thaw into a lake in just two or three months in summer.

Because the climate of the Himalayas is uncertain and the dry and wet and warm currents on the plateau frequently collide with each other, the Trident Snow Mountain is also known for its "extreme climate". It is often shining brightly at the last moment, and there are winds and clouds and blizzards raging, and it is often mixed with huge hail.

In ancient times, when myths and legends were prevalent, the Trident Snow Mountain was undoubtedly a forbidden place for humans, and thus gave birth to countless "sacrificial temples" and "sacrificial sacrifices". The legendary "sacrificial temple" of Nandadwi Snow Mountain, which is said to be a "king dynasty", is not a temple in the traditional sense, but is just a simple sacrifice point piled up with thin stone pieces. Although the experts from the joint archaeology of

sneered at this, they were still ecstatic: hundreds of people entered the mountain and encountered hail. Isn’t this a complete solution to the puzzle?

However, the more in-depth the scientific investigation of 38 skeletons, the more confusing the archaeologists’ thinking.

DNA map of these bones does not match the indigenous people on the Sino-Indian border. Finally, it was submitted to the United Nations Institute of Anthropology to further compare the entire genome and found that only 23 of the 38 remains partially overlapped with the South Asian genes, one of which is a Southeast Asian gene.

What is more confusing is that the remaining 14 are exactly consistent with the indigenous peoples such as Greek and Crete , etc., and the death years of the 38 remains are at least 100 years, with a maximum span of 1,000 years.

Simply put, these deceased people did not die at the same time, nor did they come from the same region.

Since scientific testing rejected the cause of a single catastrophic event, the question is obviously even more complicated: Why did these people travel thousands of miles from the Mediterranean to the Himalayan snow-capped mountains? Why did you choose this frozen lake to end your life? Although external forces are excluded for the cause of death, it also excludes factors such as disease, poisoning, low temperature, hypoxia, etc.

"National Geography" soon released a documentary "Mystery of the Dead: Skeleton Lake", which released the results of the scientific investigation in detail. The Indian Cellular and Molecular Biology Center then intervened in the investigation and also released a "Himalayas - Mysterious Frozen Lake". These two documentaries describe the mysterious unknowns of Skeleton Lake all over the world through scientific and mythological perspectives, making it quickly become a popular outdoor tourist attraction with the theme of exploration.

The two guides we invited were natives of Uttarakhand, India. One of them claimed to be a "descendant of the Kannaoi Dynasty". Although they were thin and black, they were the most famous outdoor guide in the local area. They had never had a safety accident in their twelve years of leadership.

He did not exaggerate or conceal the route to hike the Skull Lake: "Although this route is very popular, there are not many tourists who can really walk to the Skull Lake. There are only 1,800 people every year. Most of them voluntarily give up when they only walk to the Bedney Camp."

Bedney Camp is the largest grassland village in the area, with an altitude of only 3,500-3,800 meters. It is famous for the abundant production of plateau sheep, wild horses and bison. There is a natural snow-water lake high above the grassland village, which is the largest water source for early mountain people. It was polluted by raising a large number of cattle and sheep. It has now become a drinking water area for cattle and sheep and wild animals, and is also one of the largest supply points for going to Skull Lake.

Bedney continued to go west and there was no road left. There was only a 20-centimeter-wide dirt road winding up. Another guide said while walking: From here, every 100 meters above sea level will cool down by 1-1.5℃. Normal climbers are the best ones with strong resistance to freezing, but they dare not wear short-sleeved sleeves after being above 4,000 meters above sea level.

But in my eyes, the biggest change is not temperature and altitude, but the lush green grassland that turns yellow at some point.

After the altitude exceeds 4500 meters, the surrounding grass plants basically disappeared, with only the scattered snow and gravel exposed on the surface. Fortunately, the sun shines brightly that day and there is no extreme weather.

​The guide pointed to a snow-capped mountain in the distance and said: That is the Nandadwei Peak in ancient Indian mythology. We are on the upper slope of about 5,100 meters south of Trisul Peak. You can go west along the mid-waist line without climbing to the top, and then downhill is Skeleton Lake.

Although Trisul Peak was conquered by mankind as early as 1905, no more than a thousand people have successfully reached the top so far, including , British Army Lieutenant General Harold and his army of 220 people successfully reached the top, and two Yugoslav teams that reached the top in 1960 and 1987 have a total of 76 people.

​Why are there so few people who have reached the top? Because the climate of Trisul Peak is variable and the occurrence of frequent avalanches, it is difficult to accurately calculate wind and humidity. After entering the 21st century, the Indian military ordered a ban on climbing Trisul, leaving the snow-capped mountain without any commercial and entertainment climbing.

Go down to the pass on the right side of the trident, which is one of the "tea temples" on the legendary King Kannaoi's worship road. According to the guide, local mountain people used this thin piece of stone to pile two or three hundred "tea temples" during the pilgrimage, and each of them faces the Nandadwi Snow Mountain.

In the traditional custom of Kannaui, believers of pilgrimage should hold conch microphones, pray to Shiva or the land worshipped in the temple and explain the purpose of passing by. If a sudden strong wind and snow blows, it means "no passage". After demonstrating to the director, he smiled and said: None of these is trustworthy, because when you encounter heavy wind and snow on the mountain, you will continue to move forward as a result of seeking death.

​The Skeleton Lake is below the pass. Unlike us who are walking and stop shooting, the teams that set off at the same time have already gone to the lakeside. People with courage are even digging and sniffing around, hoping to find the bones in the snow.

So, how far has Skeleton Lake been studied? Have all the unsolved mysteries been solved?

In fact, we went to Skull Lake in August 2018. The latest research at that time was to clean up about 800 skeletons, including not only human bones, but also horses and sheep; as well as physical data such as the deepest depth of the frozen lake is only 2.2 meters.

Four years later, in 2022, archaeologists and anthropologists only counted the latest data of "the total amount of bones exceeds 50,000", and also refuted rumors of hail killing such as "the skull has round wounds". There is still no clue about the puzzles of why there are so many bones in Skeleton Lake, why the dead are spread across the two continents of Eurasia and , and why the deaths are caused. ​

Friendly reminder: Whether in summer or spring or autumn, when you go to Skull Lake, you must prepare cold-proof clothes, walking sticks, tents, sleeping bags, necessary emergency medicines and GPS navigation. Non-professional mountaineering athletes should climb in three to four days. On the one hand, you can enjoy the surrounding scenery to the greatest extent, and on the other hand, you can leave enough time for your body to adapt to the plateau.