The crest of the Baltoro Muztagh marks the present border between Pakistani and Chinese territory.

about 5,422 m.) and the so-called 'New' Mustagh Pass, about 16 km (9.9 mi) to the west (altitude variously given as 5,700 and 5,800 m.) The pass is on the watershed between the rivers which flow towards the Tarim Basin and those flowing to the Indian Ocean.

The route has been impassible to caravans since at least the middle of the 19th century due to the movement of the glaciers on it and, by 1861, when Godwin-Austen did his survey of the region, it was only in use by a few Baltis living in Yarkand who crossed it to visit their families.

No European had, however, crossed either of them, but Colonel Godwin-Austen in 1862 came very near the summit of the new pass from the southern side, when he was obliged to turn back on account of bad weather.

"[4]There was apparently more abundant fodder and fuel along the Yarkand River than on the approaches to the Karakoram Pass: Francis Younghusband (1863-1942) was the first European known to cross the pass which he did with much difficulty in 1887 after a request from Colonel Mark Sever Bell (1843-1906), finally reaching the village of Askole in Baltistan.