Morocco day 5.Crossing High Atlas, Jebel Toubkal

Submitted by maria on Wed, 11/09/2024 - 11:02

At 7 am we leave the Toubkal refuge, the day is cool but completely clear.

Jebel Toubkal

We cross the waterfall next to the refuge and start a fairly steep climb up to the first pass, throwing out our hands in certain areas.

As we ascend we meet the first people coming down from watching the sunrise on the summit. For the first time during the day we can see our objective.

Trekking

We continue walking slowly but at a good pace, in two hours we reach the south col and a quarter of an hour later we reach the summit of Jebel Toubkal at 4,167 metres.

Trekking

The morning is cold but sunny and we enjoy the solitude of the mountain for almost an hour before we start our descent. We talk to Kady about the family and last year's earthquake. There are still people who are still living in the ruins a year later. Kady tells us that the Moroccan government gives a grant of about fourteen thousand euros for the reconstruction of each house.

Jebel Toubkal

Today almost two hundred people went up to see the sunrise, it was a good idea to go up a little later.

From the summit the views are impressive, Jebel Toubkal is the highest mountain in North Africa and its ascent on the south face is not technically difficult. From the top we can see our objectives for tomorrow , Ras Ouanoukrim and Timesguida.

Jebel Toubkal

We descend along the same path, a little dirty in some sections with loose stones, but slowly but surely it is no problem.

Jebel Toubkal

At 1 p.m. we reach the refuge again where a magnificent meal awaits us, lentil tajine, rice salad and orange for dessert.

We spend the afternoon resting and chatting with other travellers, sharing experiences.

Views

We help you to prepare your backpack for trekking here

Tips to avoid altitude sickness

We have dinner in the first shift, tomorrow at 3 o'clock up to see the sunrise at the top of Ras Ouanoukrim.

Views to Ras peak

We share dinner with a couple of Catalans who have just arrived. They climbed very fast and he got altitude sickness, he had to descend for about half an hour to acclimatise properly.

Another two German girls have climbed up vomiting and with strong headaches, hydration is essential to avoid altitude sickness.

Trekking

Tip. It is very important to acclimatise properly from 3,000 metres above sea level, as the probability of suffering from oedema is very high, so don't gamble with it. In this post we talk about altitude sickness.

Dinner was great, harira soup, chicken tajine and melon.