Morocco
Hiking Mount Toubkal
When we arrived in Morocco we were transferred to the small town of Imlil in the Atlas mountains. This would be the starting point for our trek up Mount Toubkal. Toubkal is the highest mountain in Northern Africa at 4,167 meters.
After resting for the rest of the day and exploring the area around our guesthouse. We went to bed ready to begin our trek the next morning.
We woke early to meet our guide and mules that would help us over the next 6-7 hours to hike to Toubkal base camp. We would then spend the night there before the final push to the summit of Mount Toubkal. The changing scenery on the morning hike was spectacular, moving from rural traditional moroccan villages, through dry river beds and barren, dry, dusty mountain trails.
We would have regular stops at little rest areas with locals selling drinks and other little snacks. The sugary soft drinks were perfect during these breaks as it was very hot and the boost from the sugar was good to help us push on to the base camp.
Eventually a large earthy coloured building came into the view sitting in a valley surrounded by several 4000 meter peaks. After hiking all day and climbing over 1,700 meters we finally made it to the base camp. Sitting at 3207 meters the views back down the valley were beautiful, and we were all grateful to be able to rest our feet before the final ascent to the summit of Toubkal the next day.
We woke early and started the final push around 5am before the sun had risen. Not long into the hike we all started to feel the effects of the altitude. No one suffered from any severe symptoms but the tiredness and the head made the headaches from the altitude annoying. We had arrived the day before and the hike up to over 3000 meters had left little time to acclimate properly. Luckily we would be summiting and then return all the way back to Imlil that same day.
The trail had a lot of scree and made the walking pretty tough. After a couple of hours we could see the summit and those who had already made it to the top. The views out across the Atlas mountains made the early start and the long hike worth it. We took some photos at the summit and enjoyed the view before descending back down towards base camp. We relaxed by a river near base camp and ate lunch while dipping our feet in the cool mountain water. We were tired but still had a long hike back down to Imlil.
The trail seemed to last forever, it was very hot and we were now all very tired. We had also been up for a long time but knew that pushing on would be worth it. We eventually came to a small tree sheltered area where our guide team had set up some traditional tents and also prepared food for us. They had prepared a lot of food and we all thought how are we going to eat all of this! After the long hike and tiredness none of us felt really that hungry. It was important for us to try to eat something but it was hard work.
We had done it though, we had hiked North Africa's tallest mountain. We were excited for the next few days where we would be taking jeeps across the country and into the Sahara desert.
