Sumayar or Sumer'' ( ur, سمائر; ) is a small valley in the

Nagar District The Nagar District ( ur, ) is one of the 14 districts of Pakistan-administered territory of Gilgit-Baltistan. The Nagar District was established in 2015 by the division of the Hunza–Nagar District into two districts: the Hunza District and th ...

Gilgit-Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory, and constituting the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region which has been the subject of a dispute bet ...

, Pakistan. The valley is located at the confluence of

Hunza River Hunza River ( ur, ) is the principal river of Hunza in Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan It is formed by the confluence of the Chapursan and Khunjerab ''nalas'' (gorges) which are fed by glaciers. It is joined by the Gilgit River and the Naltar R ...

and Nagar River (Pakistan). It is bounded by eroded landscape from the north-east and mountain ridges from the south. Moreover, the valley is composed of nine small villages: Khai, Futhkhai, Yal, Boshat, Rashfari, Resman, Daltho, Thopkhan, and Jotorkhan. It is around away from

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina: ; ur, ) is the capital city of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. The city is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit River and the Hunza River. It is a major tourist destination in Pakistan, serving as a h ...

city and takes around one and a half or two hours to reach the valley. The adjoining areas are Askurdas and Shayar. Sumayar, Askurdas, and Shayar are combinedly known as SAS Valley. The Sumayar valley has numerous tourist attractions including Snowy Mountains such as, Dumani, a north-east side of

Diran Diran ( ur, دیرن) is a mountain in the Karakoram range in Nagar Valley and Bagrot Valley Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. This pyramid shaped mountain lies to the east of Rakaposhi (7,788m). Diran is the most dangerous mountain in Pakistan ...

and Silkiyang Peak, Silkiyang Glacier, Altusill and Menamgusham meadows, Baraimochay Farimuch, and Hayano camping sites, Mamubar stream, and Gemstone mining area Chumar Bakur. The valley contains the reserves of various Gems and Minerals such as Aquamarine,

Fluorite Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. The Mohs sca ...

Apatite Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals, usually hydroxyapatite, fluorapatite and chlorapatite, with high concentrations of OH−, F− and Cl− ions, respectively, in the crystal. The formula of the admixture of the three most common e ...

Calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...

, and

Quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

. The famous aquamarine mining area Chumar bakhoor or Chumar Bakur is also situated in the Sumayar Valley.

Geography

The valley is located at the confluence of two rivers;

and Nagar River (Pakistan). It is surrounded by

Nagarkhas Nagarkhas ( ur, نگرخاس), also known as Oyum-Nagar is the headquarters of the Nagar District of Gilgit–Baltistan and is one of the largest towns in that district. Situated on the bank of the Nagar River, it was also the capital of the f ...

from the east, Askurdas from the west, Ganesh from the north, and mountain ridges including

from the south.

Geomorphology

The valley rises from at its mouth in the north to over 7,000 m towards the south along a stretch of distance. The highest peak,

(), is in the southern part of the valley. There are several tributaries to the principal stream, ''Mamubar''. The valley can be divided into three geomorphological units: The upper part; the middle part and the lower part. The Upper part: The upper and southern part of the valley is usually covered with ice and a glacier. The upper part of the valley can be conveniently further divided into two parts - the extreme upper region that is occupied by a permanent glacier ''Silkiang'' and ''Ghamultur''. And the lower region is of relatively low ascent with snaking of the ''Mamubar'' stream. At places, it is occupied with avalanches and materials from lateral moraines. The Middle part: The middle region of the valley is a narrow canyon that is flanked by high precipices, probably due to outcrop rock of the Sumayar granite. This part of the valley is mostly covered by deep snow during the winter. The Lower part: The Lower part is comparatively wide and open. On the terraces of the valley, there is vegetation but the remaining areas of skeletal soil are lacking agricultural activity. The depth of the ''Mamuber'' stream increases and flows as a single channel.

Chumar Bakhoor (Chumar Bakur)

Chumar Bakhoor is located at an elevation of in the Sumayar Valley of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Geographically it is also closer to the

. The Chumar Bakhoor pass links the Sumayar valley with the Nagar Khas. Walking from central Sumayar, it takes around 4 to 5 hours to reach the pegmatites that crop out on the western side of the mountain above 4000 meters elevation. Appiani (2007) states that according to (Blauwet and Shah, 2004) the gemstone deposits at Chumar Bakhoor were first discovered in 1984 by local hunter Muhammad Shah. According to Blauwet (2006), the prominent fluorite locality in Pakistan is Chumar Bakhoor, which Blauwet notes is generally called Nagar. The fluorite occurs here in a variety of colors and crystal habits, that includes cubes, octahedra, and dodecahedra. Spinel-law twins have also been found here in incredible sizes. Octahedral fluorite from the pegmatites of Chumar Bakhoor of Sumayar valley, Nagar district has been known for quite some time. Green, white to pink fluorite associated with gemmy aquamarine, and pale pink to dark orange-pink fluorapatite on muscovite druses from the Chumar Bakhoor have been reaching the market since 1984. According to Appiani, (2007) the size and variety of fluorite crystals from the chumar Bakhoor; and the equal-sized crystals of fluorite, aquamarine, and fluorapatite together on the Matrix Specimens are extremely impressive. Pink octahedral crystals, from Pakistan, sometimes associated with aquamarine and fluorapatite on muscovite, have been known for many years. However, the specimens from the Chumar Bakoor are far superior to those from previous discoveries, ranking them among the finest known examples of the species.

Peaks, glaciers and meadows

Peaks

*Dumani (North-east side of

) *Silkiyang Peak

Glaciers

*Silkiyang Glacier *Ghaintur Glacier

Meadows

*Silkiyang *Menamgusham *Baraimuch-e-fari *Goyosho *Harai Ghutom

Regular avalanche tracks

*Manbull Har *Saaelji Har *Menamgusham Har *Silkiyang Har

Waterfalls and streams

Waterfalls

*Shotti Gor Waterfall *Manbull Waterfall

Streams

*Mamubar stream

Valleys nearby

* Hoper Valley *

Hispar The Hispar Valley or Hispar (Urdu.وادی ہسپر) is the last Valley of Nagar Valley in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. The valley is located two kilometers below the snout of the 49 kilometer-long Hispar Glacier. It is about 28 ...

* Gappa Valley * SAS Valley

References

{{Reflist Valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan Nagar District