advisable. Simply ‘bagging’ the hills could be done using shared public transport, but timings would be open-ended.
The dominant mountains of north-east Morocco are seldom visited, so offer greater rewards for relatively easy access.
In February 1990 two of us set off to ‘beat the bounds’ of Morocco, so to speak, travelling south by bus from Agadir to Bouizakarne, then east to Tata, Foum Zguid, Ouarzazate, Ar-Rachidia and Figuig, then north to Oujda and west to Taza and Fes. (Advice: take a cushion.) Particularly on the Oujda–Fes stretch, when we’d gone by train, we were aware of snowy sweeps of mountain many miles off to port. They were even visible from Fes rooftops. What could they be? Eventually we realised they were the long crests of Jbel bou Iblane and Jbel bou Naceur. Two years later (May 1992) we set off to find and climb them – ‘we’ were the GTAM trio of Charles, Ali and myself, plus another friend.
Jbel bou Iblane under deep snow
We travelled by Land Rover hired from Marrakech via Kasba Tadla to reach Midelt. We passed a forgotten hotel night, but had a memorable meal in a small restaurant, Fes, the sort of eatery one bends routes to take in (grilled quinces once). Next day it was down the bleak Oued Melwiya (Moulouya) road – the only big river heading for the Mediterranean – and, at Outat Oulad el Hajj, onto a piste towards the mountains. The piste ran out, and some cross-country sport was needed to reach the village of Tirnest. Peyron was our guide for this trip and indispensable. (Tirnest will certainly have a good piste by now.)
The north flank of Jbel bou Nacceur
Outsiders had rarely come to the village, and the headman was far too scared to help us without authorisation. To stop us he said there were no mules, so we simply packed our rucksacks and set off to backpack at 14.00. That horrified them. On our heads be it. We put in 5 hours of sweaty labour to round into the Taouchguelt (Tawchgelt) glen, whose head was Bou Naceur, leaving a mere Ben Nevis equivalent to climb next day. Water was scarce, but we followed a donkey for an hour to a source. A shepherd made tea for us, and we gave him surplus vegetables (from now on we fought every ounce of the way) before a night that produced a saturating dew.
The first brew went on at 05.00. On our second hour the slope reared up. We followed a gully next to the main one, which entailed some scrambling on rock rough as the Cuillin of Rum. There were bumps galore in the snowy waste once up, so there was something of a tour to be sure of the highest, given 3326m. There were great views over to Iblane, and Tinesmet village, our next objective, lay in a green spot among the greys and browns. We felt the altitude a bit and Ali had a touch of snow blindness. We then, perforce, had a high bivvy, melting snow for water.
Jbel bou Iblane beyond the village of Beni Smint
The school inspector met below the Tizi ou Mial
We had thought of adding 3128m Adrar n’ Siouane (Gaberal), another distinctive neighbour, but baled off and headed for the oasis of Tinesmet, where we were given marvellous hospitality in a house and the promise of a mule for the donkey work ahead. Westing led us over minor tizis to reach a piste which dropped from the final Tizi ou Mial to the village of Beni Smint. In the middle of nowhere we were caught up by a man in a city suit, carrying a brief case – a school inspector on tour. In his city shoes he happily ran down screes. We had a delectable bivvy (three-quarters moon) above the village. The headman came for coffee and to get our details. A good piste led on, and flanks Iblane, and we eventually made a high bivvy in weather doubtful enough that the two muleteers built parallel walls, wove grass ropes and supported the panniers across the gap to make a shelter. There were storms all round, but we were just gently rained on.
Moussa ou Salah from Beni Smint
We had a second breakfast on reaching the tizi between Moussa and the western Iblane crest (Tizi n’ Tzirouch), left our rucksacks and drifted up to Moussa ou Salah, at 3172m the highest summit of the region. There’s an odd crater, and snow still lingered. We hurried down to our sacks as people had suddenly appeared. Shaly slopes led up to a first 3103m bump – according to Peyron – which would make it the highest top of this north-east end of long, undulating Jbel bou Iblane. We went on to 3081m to make sure, but by this time we were surrounded by black clouds trailing rain and grumbling thunder. Lightning is a great booster of pace. We skeltered off fast, fine scree runs and snow runnels helping.
We hit the piste on this flank by the Tizi Ouaouesra (Wawesra) and headed for our rendezvous with the mule at the cedar forest Taffert ‘refuge’. They, off the Tizi Bouzabel at the south-west end of Iblane, arrived just as we did. Our end was in our beginning. The guardian needed authorisation to accommodate us and the caïd’s office was an hour’s motoring away. He relented in the end. The place was as spooky as the hotel in ‘The Shining’. But dry. Next day a camionette took us down to Birtam Tam and a taxi into Fes. QED. A typical ‘raid’.
This has forever remained one of my happiest memories of Atlas trekking. Just going, with minimal pre-knowledge, the fun of discovery, decisions to make, and taking the consequences. By the time we came this way again on GTAM95 there was a caïd’s office under Bou Iblane and roads were being upgraded for surfacing. Today you could just drive up from the north, even Fes, and do Moussa ou Salah as a day-walk, and something similar from the south-east for Bou Naceur. But take Ali, find a mule, and make something of it. You’re not likely to meet any other trekkers.
ROUTE THREE
Jbel Ayyachi (Ayachi) 3747m and Jbel Masker 3265m
| Commitment | Seriously big mountains. Masker can be done as a good 1325m day-ascent from Tounfite, but access to Ayyachi is more difficult and would take 2–3 days if traversing as described, or a very long day by its easiest option – straight up from the N. |
| Maps | 100: Tounfite, Rich, Midelt. Route sketches in MP2 and BD. |
| Texts | MP2 describes several routes (sketches) on both mountains, as does BD, who also has some illustrations. |
| Travel to start | Midelt, Zeïda and Boumia are staging posts to Tounfite. Midelt is an option for Ayyachi (as described), but the easiest ascent is from the Cirque de Jaffer road. With the start at 2150m, and the highest point 3747m, a long day would be needed for up and down. |
| Local assistance | Not really needed for Masker or Ayyachi from the N, but for Ayyachi’s traverse contacting a guide and mule in Midelt would be helpful. |
These extensive giants dip beyond horizons, east and west, and offer good sport at the eastern extremity of the Atlas Mountains.
Looking across the wide Melwiya (Moulouya) plain, the long crests of Ayyachi–Masker visibly curve to dip beyond horizons. The scale is vast. In earlier centuries travellers heading along the Trek es Sultan, the road from Fes to the Tafilet and the Sahara, were so impressed with the snowy majesty of Ayyachi that they assumed it was the highest summit in the country.
Nearing the summit of Saïd ou Ali, Jbel Ayyachi
Ayyachi
