Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles.
day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | info | video
Once again the guided hiking group nearby was up and gone before I’d even woken up.
I started up into a very cool gorge section. It was dark and hazy.
This is Azib Imi n’Ouassif (2841m), a crossroads of several gorges where some people camp.
From here it’s a steep climb to the pass at Tizi n’Ouanoums.
Escapee goats live on these inhospitable cliffs. There’s not much to eat.
It was a bit of a relief to reach the second high pass of the circuit. From here it was all downhill … at least while carrying full pack.
Descending the pass was supposed to be a bit treacherous. As I crossed it wasn’t all that bad.
I could see some of the Iceland group having lunch at the bottom. By the time I got there they had begun climbing a secondary trail up the other side to the 2nd / 3rd highest peaks in north Africa. Their guide stayed back having hurt his ankle. In fact he sent the group cook as guide in his stead.
I had some lunch too. Then, with plenty of time, followed. Weather looked good.
The scramble to one Ouanoukrim summit — Ras Ouanoukrim (4083m) — in a hail storm turned out to be the highlight of the entire circuit. We had a blast.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I hustled over to another lump of a peak — Timzguida (4089m) — which we later found out to be 5m higher.
In fact my phone had it (wrongly) at 4100m.
I left a Summit Stone.
Once safely down, the others headed off briskly (as they always did) to rejoin their group. One of the men, Dorfi, had once led a 3 week horse trek across Iceland. This weather was nothing to him. He wore a wool sweater under a waterproof poncho on that trip. Never got wet.
In no rush I walked slowly downhill to Toubkal Refuge (3207m).
I’d plan to wild camp again … until I saw the massive complex. It looked intriguing.
As it was raining too I decided to camp at Refuge Mouflon and sign up for the 7pm dinner. It was pretty good.
I charged my batteries in Mouflon after dinner and watched an episode of Better Call Saul on my phone as I waited. Then headed out into the rain to my tent.
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