The Two Valleys and Toubkal Summit

Day 1 : Aguersioual – Matate– Ait Aissa

Transfer from Marrakech to Aguersioual (1600m) where we pick up the mules and have mint tea before walking up the valley to the village of Matate for lunch. After lunch we continue over the Tizi Oudite pass (2210m) to reach the Berber village of Ait Aissa where we stay overnight in a guesthouse. About 4 hours walking.

Day 2 : Ait Aissa – Tizi Oussem –Tamsoult

We leave Ait Aissa after breakfast and walk along the Ait Oussadene valley to Tizi Oussem, the last Berber village along the valley. We then continue to the refuge at Tamsoult where we have lunch. After lunch we walk the short distance to the Lepiney Gorge with its famous waterfall before returning to the refuge for our evening meal and where we stay overnight.– a total of about 5 or 6 hours walking.

Day 3 : Tamsoult – Tizi Mzik – Aremd

After breakfast we start to walk down before climbing up over the Tizi Mzik pass (2000m) before descending once more to Aremd where we spend the night in a comfortable guesthouse with the option of using the village hamman. A total of about 4 to 5 hours walking.

Day 4: Aremd – Sidi Chamarouch – Toubkal Refuge –

We set off up the trail towards Sidi Chamarouch, (2500m) the site of a shrine (closed to non – Muslims), but the shops and cafes are open to all. Here we will have a picnic lunch, before continuing up the mule trail to the Toubkal refuge (3200m) – a total climb of 1500m from Imlil and about 6 hours walking. Here we stay in dormitories in the refuge or camp outside (depending on the season)

Day 5: Toubkal Refuge – Toubkal Summit – Imlil –

After an early breakfast, around 5am, we set off for the summit of Toubkal, nearly 1000m above us. Technically this is not a difficult ascent, but it is demanding with sections of scrambling and loose scree – depending on fitness a climb of 3 or 4 hours. However, it is worth the effort! The views from the top are stupendous, north over the plain of Marrakech and south to the Sahara. We look down on many other peaks in the High Atlas and the village of Imlil – our starting point – is tiny below us. After time for a snack and photos at the top, we start to retrace our steps to the refuge where we arrive in time for a welcome lunch. After lunch we set off down the trail to Sidi Chamarouch and finally Imlil. The descent is not difficult but it is long and we arrive in Imlil late in the afternoon. Here our transport is waiting to take us back to Marrakech.