Morocco (May 2023): After-traverse endgame
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Market day at the Souk el Arba:
After our
12-day hike, Brahim, Zaid, and I spent a full day of rest at Oumar's lodge. It
was market day at the souk el Arba, a short hike from the lodge. So, I went
there and spent time watching the crowd and looking at the products for sale.
(See here
for similar photos I took in 2022 in the same souk.)
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Alemdoun to Jebel Azourki:
On the
following day, Brahim and I decided to try to climb Jebel Azurki (3350m), a
summit located at the eastern end of the Ait Bouguemez valley, near Ifrane
(Brahim's home village). So, we drove to the northern side of Azurki. The road
between Alemdoun and the At Bouguemez valley is relatively new. It crosses to
high passes, Tizi el Fougani (2997m) and Tizi n-Ait
Imi (2905m). Before the construction of this road, I had crossed Tizi n-Ait Imi
several times on foot (see here).
View over the Jebel Waougoulzat range from Tizi el Fougani.
Views over the Jebel Waougoulzat range
and the Mgoun valley (second photo below) during the descent from Tizi el
Fougani.
View over the lower part of the road
below Tizi n-Ait Imi (hidden in clouds coming from the north).
View of the snow-capped Mgoun range and
the smaller Jebel Ifri-n-ou-Khlifat from the road to Tizi n-Ait Imi (before
entering the clouds).
Azourki to Tabant:
When we
reached the northern side of Azourki, the weather was bad with light rain and
snow. We nevertheless hiked up to azibs where we set up a camp. Unfortunately,
the next morning the weather was no better and extremely cold. We decided to
hike down to Tabant (the main village in the Ait Bougumez valley), where
Oumar's parents run a nice gite (kind of guesthouse).
Brahim at
the camp.
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Jebel Waougoulzat seen
during the descent.
Jebel Azourki seen
later in the day behind a kasbah of the village of Ait Ouchi.
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View over the village
of Ifrane from the trail.
Another view of Jebel
Azourki.
Tabant:
I spent two nights in the gite of
Oumar's parents in Tabant. There, Brahim, Zaid, and I said goodbye and moved in
different directions.
In Tabant I
walked to the spectacular former communal granary of Sidi Moussa. Built of
stone and mud, the granary stands atop an unmissable conical hill. It is
believed to be over 200 years old and is named after a local pious man,
possibly a rabbi, known for his healing powers. Some local people believe that
Sidi Moussa is buried here and also consider the place a shrine.
Tabant to Marrakesh:
I finally
returned to Marrakesh, where I spent a day before returning home. These are two
last photos of Jebel Waougoulzat that I took from Tizi n-Tirghist, a pass north
of the Ait Bouguemez valley near Jebel Azourki.
On June 3, Oumar sent
me a voice message to tell me that the weather in the Atlas was still very bad.
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