Report

Our trip to Morocco was one out of a desire to do something that I hadn’t already seen done on Instagram. I started poking around and came across Jebel Toubkal, the highest peak of Morocco and of Northern Africa. After looking into it, I discovered that you can no longer hike this without a guide, but that guide services were somewhat reasonable. I exchanged maybe two emails with a guide company outside of Imlil, we booked our flights, and before we knew it we were in Morocco for a long weekend adventure.

Marrakech

We flew into Marrakech, as this a quick trip focused on Toubkal, we took advantage of our time in the city and left our riad to explore the city a bit. We immediately started towards the city center through the massive open air markets. These are always overwhelming and we rushed through them without buying anything. I was afraid that the salesmen would be aggressive towards us, but found that not to be the case. They would call out to you, but never approach or force you into their shops. The market center was a buzz with people everywhere. There were camels, people, motorbikes, even snake charmers with their cobras, flutes, and baskets. This too was a pretty chaotic area so we continued to quieter sites.

We ended up exploring some beautifully decorated schools and got some food somewhere before returning to our room for the night. There Jo watched the Ohio state game and tried to get some rest for our big day tomorrow.

Toubkal

As mentioned before, we just kinda hoped that the booking for our tour was legit. Sure enough though, the morning of our trek, a driver showed up at our riad ready to drive us the hour or so to Imlil where we were to meet our guide and start the trek. Once there, we paid for our guide, cook, donkey, and supplies for the trip. It cost €305 for the both of us (after the tip). We were told to relax and enjoy some tea while we waited for our guide.

Soon our guide showed up. A 5 foot Berber man, whose name we never quite got. We shook hands, we were told to grab our bags, and he took off. And I mean almost sprinted down the street. We tried our best to keep up with him, but that only lasted so long. Eventually we figured we’d just have to hike at our pace and assume that he wouldn’t leave us behind. We passed through a few small villages, and eventually a guard check point. Ever since some European girls were murdered on this hike a few years before, you are supposedly required to have a guide. We met some other hikers there who were not allowed to pass without hiring a guide. A bit of a racket, but again not the worst pricing in the world.

We stopped for lunch near a river crossing where our mule carrying our sleeping supplies caught up. Tending to the mule was our chef who began to prepare us a delicious “traditional” lunch, served of course with tea. After lunch we continued our ascent. The hike was not particularly steep or difficult, just a long unrelenting climb. Eventually we ended up at the hut where we would spend the night. It was still a few 1000 feet short of the summit, but made a great base from which to rest and prepare for the summit the following morning.

Once again, our chef and mule met us. We were shown our rooms and we relaxed that evening. Our cook once again made us a delicious traditional tangine followed by some popcorn for desert. It was during dinner that we perhaps shared some of our first words with our guide. He roughly explained what to expect the next morning and then we went to bed.

We started before sunrise the next day hiked for a bit before putting on our crampons. A lady had died earlier in the season from slipping on the ice near the top so we tread lightly. As the sun was rising we summited Toubkal. It was freezing cold, but our guide provided some tea to warm us up and shared some dates and nuts. After snapping some photos we began the long descent back to the valley below.

Final Thoughts

The hike was one of the most elevation gain we’ve ever accomplished in a single hike and it really smoked us. We rested that night and only explored a bit the next morning before our flight. I’ll recall that experience below.

I accomplished my goal of doing something I felt was unique. Something that we had done ourselves without any outside influence. Nobody we know had even done that and it felt good. It was a wild experience, one that I’m failing to fully capture. The trip was so short, really only the bare minimum for what we needed to do the hike, but I felt good about it. Jo doesn’t feel the need to ever return, but we’ll see!

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