The high Atlas Mountains near Marrakesh offer some of the finest trekking in the world. Mt. Toubkal, North Africa’s highest mountain, is a stunning trek, where we will hike through a variety of landscapes from lush, green valleys to cold, barren rock. The route takes us through colorful Berber Villages, over mountain passes and slowly ascending to our summit at 4,167m, at the top of Mount Toubkal.
Berber Villages And Toubkal Trek 5 days trek to Mt. Toubkal Summit, and some sightseeing and exploration in Marrakesh for an experience not to be missed.
Marrakech
09:00
For Trekking Atlas Mountains you need to prepare as you would for walking in any mountain region; it can be warm and sunny during the day but the weather in the mountains can quickly change from sunshine to snow and cold winds (autumn through late spring). Please do not leave any rubbish behind you; carry out what you carry in.
Atlas Treks are tailored to match the season and your level of fitness. You have the choice of basing yourself in Berber Guesthouses, from where you can take daily walks, or you can Atlas Mule Trek for 2+ days. On mule treks you usually have the choice of staying in Berber Guesthouse/with families or wild camping in 2-person tents. In addition to regular packing, here is a Check List for Atlas Trekking:
Breakfast at the hotel and then we will transfer to the beginning of our trek to Jebel Toubkal. We will leave the vehicle on the road up towards Imlil at Imi Oughlad (1,450m) where you will meet our Berber muleteer and guide. Your first day will be an easier acclimatization trek in the Ouirgane National Park. The terrain here is gentler with copper green soil and juniper trees. Overnight in Gite in Tizian villages, a small rustic Berber Village.
after breakfast we now set off on our hike up along the assif n’ait oussaden valley , passing through the walnuts groves, up to tizi n taghrhourte (1995m )and through to a rare almost flat stretch to arrive at assaka spring, where we will stop for our field picnic amidst and awesome silence after some 2 and half hours relatively easy walking .our afternoon’s hike takes us down along the edges of the forest until we reach the Berber village of D’knt (1870m) or agouns n Assoul where we will have our dinner and spent the in a gite.
We set off for our morning’s 3 hours hike up through groves of walnut trees, fields of corn and barley to greet the many sheep and goat herders – and women and children bent over with 20kg loads of faggots and dried herbs. We traverse the Tizi N’tagdalte to the descent amongst the juniper trees till we come to a small spring set amongst the trees, where we will stop for our picnic .once refreshed, we are off down winding tracks of upper slopes for some 3 hours to come to a small river at the beginning of the valley of assif n’ait oussaden . from here we enter the village of tizi oussem (1850m) then up to the summer village Of Tamsoult for our hut.
After breakfast, we now set out eastwards on a moderately difficult hike up winding mule tracks to the Tizi Aguelzim (3550m) , then a further 3 hours south-east to the Toubkal Refuge which marks the spring snowline at 3207m, where we shall have our dinner, in bivouac around the Refuge.
Early in the morning we make our attempt on the summit of Jebel Toubkal, the highest peak in Northern Africa. Our route takes us up the south cirque, crossing the stream above the refuge. The walking is relatively straightforward, but the screen and the altitude will make the going quite difficult in parts. The views along the way make the journey more than worthwhile. When you reach the summit you will see that the vistas across the surrounding landscape are quite breathtaking. From here there are unrestricted views in every direction, from the Marrakesh Plain to the High Atlas in the north and as far south as the Anti-Atlas and the Sahara. We will retrace our steps when we return down the mountain and head back towards Imlil. Transfer back to Marrakech.
