Morocco 2010 trip report - Getting to high atlas
Marrakech - The red city
The train arrived at Marrakech at about 8 am and the morning seemed to be just as hot as always in Morocco. The young student fellow from the train pointed me the road to the bus station and we said farewells. The bus station wasn't that far away, just outside the medina. My bigger than huge backpack attracted numerous annoying taxi drivers to me before I even got close to the bus station. Everyone of them was telling that there are no buses to the small village I was heading to and that I must take a taxi. Naturally I thought that they're just trying to get me to give my money to them instead of the bus company.
After visiting the bus station I understood that there actually weren't any buses and for once the Moroccans were telling the truth. Let the bargaining begin. I was hoping to find some other people going to Imlil, the closest town to Jbel Toubkal, the mountain I was about to climb. The taxi drivers and I bargained about the price for a while and finally we agreed on 100 dh. I put my backpack in the trunk and sat on the passengers seat. The driver told me to wait for 5 - 10 minutes and then we'd go.
I was waiting for 10, 15, 20, 25 minutes and nothing seemed to happen. Finally I became tired of waiting and got out of the car. I tried to open the trunk but it seemed to be locked. In a while the driver came back and I told him firmly that I want my backpack. He started yelling and bargaining again and avoided opening the trunk. I was starting to lose my temper with the man but finally he opened to trunk for me and I got my luggage back.
Not being sure what caused the delay and problems with the first taxi I went to cool off for a while and tried to find breakfast. Everything seemed to be quite expensive though and a banana guy didn't have enough change so I couldn't buy anything from him either. And matches were nowhere to be found! Everyone wanted to sell me a lighter instead. Luckily the customs didn't find all the matches in my backpack in Tampere so I'd be able to get some fire going while hiking anyway.
I got back empty-handed from my shopping tourney and started looking for a taxi again. A new guy approached me and we bargained for a while. The firm price remained at 150 dh, which wasn't so horrible for a 90-minute trip so I agreed (not that there was any other option if I wanted to get to Imlil). What made things a bit awkward was the fact that the driver turned out to be the same man with whom I had been arguing just 15 minutes before. He didn't talk much on our way to Imlil.
A local supplier for coca in Imlil
The road to the mountain village of Imlil was curvy and the sceneries around beautiful. Imlil is just a small village on the edge of the high atlas mountains and it's practically the last place where you can buy things you need for your hiking trips. Surprisingly the prices weren't as high as I had expected although for the topographic map of the route to Toubkal they asked a huge price. The map looked crappy and was printed on one huge a2 or a1 paper and cost 100 - 150 dh. I had printed a map in black and white from the oh so wonderful Internet and I hoped it to be enough.
On the way to mountains
The decision not to buy a new map proved to be a good one since the route to Toubkal is marked with white spots and is easy to follow. The only difficult parts are in Imlil, where it can be a bit tricky to find the start of the path and at the refuge at 3200 m. The good thing is that in both places you can always ask from someone where to go if you're unsure.
It seemed that most of the people wanting to climb Toubkal hired a guide and some mules to carry their luggage but I hate such things so I just started walking. The number one thing to remember is sun screen. Finding shade in these mountains is rare and the sun burns like a demon. On the first day I started hiking at noon and my plan was to spend a night somewhere near the refuge at 3200 m. Imlil is located at about 1700 m so I had to climb 1500 vertical meters that day.
The path to Toubkal starts as a narrow dirt road but after about 30 minutes changes to a rocky path. Almost all the way to the refuge there's a river running next to the path and at one point the river is crossed by a small bridge. In June the water was freezingly cold and refreshing. According to some signs along the route swimming in the rivers is forbidden though.
A small yet beautiful waterfall in one of the rivers
There aren't any steep sections on the way to the refuge and without having to carry my backpack it would have been really fast to walk. But I had the backpack and together with the scorching sun it slowly made me tired. After 5 hours and 30 minutes I reached the refuge and found out that to set up a tent on the yard of the refuge costs 20 dh. I didn't feel like paying so I continued my way up a bit more, hoping to find a place for my tent. The surroundings were rocky and I couldn't see any viable places for pitching up a tent so I decided to sleep just with my mattresses and sleeping bag.
Interesting cloud formations were all around.
Green and spiky plants seemed to enjoy the rocky environment.
A spider lamb. Yes, that small white dot on the rock is a damned lamb.
Almost at the refuge. One little push and...
...yes! Finally here.
Before sleeping I needed to eat to have enough energy for the next day's summit attempt. I cooked some food I had brought all the way from Finland (special greetings to the customs officers in Tampere who took away my matches but failed to notice more than half a liter of fuel in my backpack) and ate some chocolate bars. There at 3200 m the temperature was tolerable and after the sun set it even felt a bit cold. I had a small headache and my heart rate seemed to be relatively high even when resting. Both are typical symptoms for acute mountain sickness but it could have been caused by dehydration also. After the sunset I crawled in my sleeping bag, admired the most beautiful night sky I've ever seen and slept.
My camp set up and some delicious food being cooked.
Time to sleep.
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