The Mentaga Valley of the Western High Atlas

NICE 'N EASY TWO DAY HIKE FROM AGADIR

Duration: (2 days / 1 night)            

Ref.: ITCTTP03a

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY:

GRADE ONE -  WALKING MOSTLY ON PATHS AT LOWER LEVELS, SOMETIMES ROCKY, SELDOM FLAT FOR ABOUT 6 HOURS EACH DAY. GOOD TRAINERS WOULD DO, BUT TAKE BOOTS IF YOU ARE USED TO THEM. FOR ANYONE WHO LEADS A REASONABLY ACTIVE LIFE. HIKING ALWAYS INVOLVES SOME EFFORT.

DAY 1:   AGADIR - TAROUDDANT - TADOUST - AFENSOU - HADD IMOULAS.

Departure from Agadir around 8 in the morning towards the east alongside the trailing edges of the westernmost High Atlas range to arrive around 9.15 at the pre-Islamic walled town of Tarouddant, also known as "Marrakech in Miniature." Here we change our vehicle to an open light truck - the sole method of transport, other than 4WD, which can take us up into this virgin (for hikers) region - or continue on in our 4WD, depending on the vehicle selected, for a further swaying 2½ hour drive, mainly in second gear, all the way up along the Assif Aït Oued Hajj Valley, with its stark slopes and palmeraies sprouting in the rock-strewn gullies, through to the market village of Tadoust.

Here we alight from our vehicle to stretch our limbs and meet our muleteers. We now hike up the winding valley piste for about 3 hours to the village of Afensou, where we shall stop for our picnic on the river bank, surrounded by olive trees, some prickly pear and the ever-present High Atlas peaks of the western Tichka range. Now it's a further 2 hours' easy hike past the hamlets of Assaka and Aguerd Ousguine, through the Tizi Ijarifen to the Berber village of Hadd Imoulas, a main Berber village and trailhead for the old caravan routes from Mauritania, nestling high up in the foothills of the Western High Atlas Tichka Plateau - The Rim Of A Thousand Peaks - (souq on Sunday). Should you feel up to it, there's plenty of opportunity to wander around the mule tracks whilst our tents are being set up and our dinner is prepared.

DAY 2:   HADD IMOULAS - ISSOUÂL VALLEY - TANSIMT VALLEY - IGHIL - AFENSOU - TAROUDANT - AGADIR.

After breakfast and camp struck, we start out on our 3½ hour relatively gentle hike in a north-westerly direction along mule tracks up and down the pretty valley of the Oued Issouâl, with its quaint Berber villages and hamlets, ancient terraced irrigated fields, palmeraies and almond and walnut trees, the twinned peaks of Jbels Tinergwet (3551m) and Awlim (3482m) before us, passing the Berber hamlets of Melliz and Aït Mancour, to turn towards the west up and over the western Adrar Akouchtim range until we reach the Berber village of Ighil (1610m) in the upper valley of the Oued Tansimt.

Here we shall stop for a welcome picnic in awesome silence near a stream - yet another place to take photographs of the upper valleys, Jbels Tinergwet and Awlim and of the now-present Adrar n'Dern (3025m) - before striking out down for some 2½ hours piste walking down the valley through the Berber hamlets of Ifrane, Tizzirt and Witkrazen, with their terraced irrigated plots, palmeraies and groves of olive and nut trees, to turn eastwards along the Witkrazen Valley to Afensou where we rejoin our vehicle to take us back for a 1½ hour combination piste and tarmac road to Tarouddant. Here we drive through in our 4WD, or change vehicles from lorry to Grand taxi in the hustle and bustle of the market to continue back towards the west, Agadir and the Atlantic coast