At 3.30 a.m. upstairs, breakfast today is more difficult than ever, we don't feel like it but we have to get our strength back.
Sunrise
Today we have a hard day, we make two peaks of four thousand meters (900 meters of positive difference in altitude) and descend to Armed (1,200 meters of negative difference in altitude).
Sunrise
We leave the Toubkal refuge at 4 am with our headlamps on and well wrapped up. To our left we see the headlamps of the mountaineers who climb to see the sunrise over the summit of Toubkal. We continue upstream in the middle of the night.
We climb gradually until we reach a pass at an altitude of 3,750 metres. From here 10 minutes of night climbing until we reach 4,000 metres. This pass is common to Ras and Timesguida, it is very exciting to do it at night.
Trekking
We continue ascending by a simple path until we are almost at the summit where we reach the Jebel Ras (4,083 metres). We arrive just in time to see the sunrise.
Ras
One of the most impressive sunrises we have ever experienced.
Summit
We climb up and take a path to our right to go up to Timesguida. In just 20 minutes we reach the summit again at 4,095 metres.
Timesguida
It is windy and extremely cold, so we descend quickly to have something to eat before climbing the longest stretch.
Ras view
The climb is very comfortable and we can admire the courtyard that opens up before us.
Climb
Once at the pass we start the descent again through a spectacular valley following the river until we reach the Toubkal refuge again. It forms some very beautiful waterfalls.
Valley
At the refuge we meet the Catalan couple who have climbed Toubkal, the boy is in perfect health.
We pack up and after a bite to eat we start our descent to Armed, our guide Kady's hometown.
To return
We help you to prepare your backpack for trekking here
Tips to avoid altitude sickness
The way back is parallel to the river, the descent is very steep and the path is wide. We come across several groups and mules making the reverse journey.
It is impressive how with very little water the valleys turn green in contrast to the aridity of the rocks of the mountains.
Shrine
On the stretch between the hut and Armed there are several restaurants and souvenir shops. Next to the Shrine of Shrine Sidi Chamharouch and the Sidi Chamharouch waterfall there are more shops and restaurants. If you want to buy a souvenir like a T-shirt, this is a good place to do it. We stopped here for lunch.
The shrine is built next to a white rock where Berber women come to pray for a family. Foreigners are not allowed to enter.
Salad
Kady is happy and comes down singing and greeting everyone. He is an exceptional guide and a machine, he did the Toubkal trail (47 kms +3.000 meters of altitude difference) in less than 6 hours. He is now recovering from an operation and is still in great shape.
To return
After lunch we resume the hike, in an hour and a half we arrive in Armed where we will spend the night.
We stayed at Atlas Chalet Armed, a beautiful hostel owned by Houssein (Kady's brother) in the middle of the village.
To return
After showering we went out for a walk and met the local people. Armed is quite big, surrounded by fruit trees at the end of the valley.
We had dinner on the terrace with a brutal view. The dinner was amazing, harira soup, chicken and vegetable cous cous and fruit.
After dinner we pay Kady the contracted amount, 220€/pax, and tip him 30€ for him and 5€ for the mule driver.
We say goodbye with regret, it has been a beautiful trip and Kady has been great. Hopefully we will meet again, or as they say here Inshallah!
Armed
Trekking Toubkal with agency @subidaalToubkal.com 220€/pax
Two bottles of water 20dh/ud
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