We hiked Mount Toubkal which is the highest peak in Northern Africa sitting at 4,165 meters (13,665 feet). The total hike is about 34 km (21 miles) with an elevation gain of 2,500 meters (8,200 feet), phew it was a slog. We did the hike over two days and stayed in a mountain refuge for the night between both hiking days.

We met some surf friends on the coast that were interested in the hike! We first met Jarrah and Lee, both from Australia, at the surf hostel we were all staying at in Taghazout. After Taghazout, we ended up spending some time with them in Imsouane too! Our other friend that hiked with us was Jolan who is from Belgium. He came up to us spontaneously in Taghazout when we were packing our bike to leave to say hello. We only chatted for a couple of minutes but in that time we exchanged information to maybe meet up in our Morocco travels. He is also traveling by motorbike!

After some research about hike logistics, we planned to all stay in the small mountain village of Imlil in the High Atlas Mountains the night before starting the hike to (1) acclimate our bodies a little bit, (2) get gear since none of us had all of the proper gear, and (3) hopefully get a solid night’s rest leading up to the rigorous couple of days ahead. Austin, Jarrah, Lee, and I all met beforehand in Marrakech and took a shared taxi to Imlil. The cost for the 1.5 hr drive was about $3.50/person, not bad! Once we got to Imlil, we checked in with the guiding company since it is required to have a guide on the hike and they helped point us in the right direction of where to rent gear. We ended up renting hiking boots, crampons, winter gloves (praise the Lord), and some of the group got trekking poles. We all were extremely thrilled we got some of that winter gear because little did we know, we would be trudging through 1 meter (~3 feet) deep snow the next morning for a sunrise summit.

This is Austin, Jarrah, and Lee at the gear shop:

Once we got our gear, we started heading towards our accommodation. We stayed at a gite (kind of like a guesthouse/hut for hikers) that had dinner and breakfast the next morning included; it was nice to have a food option there since our gite was about a 20 minute walk from town. Jolan was traveling by motorbike so he met us at the gite in the evening and was able to grab extra gear from the host instead of walking back into town.

The photo below is from our patio at the gite. Our host greeted us with hot and very sweet tea and we spent some time hanging out and gawking at the mountains. It was quite cold as you can see some of the mountains are a skiff snowy. Also, behind the cloud wall, there was an insane wall of mountains that was absolutely magnificent once we saw it the next morning when the clouds cleared.

The first day of the hike, we met our guide, Abdoul, around 10:00 in Imlil and started the trek through multiple valleys and passed a few smaller Berber villages. We hiked about 12km (7.5 miles) and gained around 1,500km (5,000 feet). The hike was very diverse and beautiful, here are a few photos from the first day:

We arrived at the refuge mid-afternoon after a beautiful day of hiking. Once we made it into the refuge itself, we took off our hiking boots in the boot room and picked out our bunks for the night. I have noticed that many alpine huts in the European Alps and in the Atlas Mountains have "boot rooms" where it is required to leave your hiking boots. It sure helps keep the rooms smelling cleaner than if everyone kept their boots in the bunk rooms. After we were settled in our room, we headed toward the fire to warm up and play some cards. There was also heaps of hot tea to drink which helped us all warm up.

For dinner at the refuge, we had hot soup, chicken tagine, and bread. A tagine is a Northern African dish made in special cookware. It is a slow roast of veggies and meat with a few different spices. Once we had warm and full bellies, we headed to bed around 9:00/9:30pm since we would be waking up around 5:00am the next morning for the sunrise summit.

We woke up bright and early on the summit day and put on all of our warm layers...they were absolutely needed. After breakfast, we got our boots on and went outside to put our crampons on. Crampons are a traction device that you strap on your boots; they have metal spikes on the bottom and toes so you can walk on ice or hard packed snow with more confidence than with a bare boot bottom. Here is photo of our gang getting ready to start hiking in the dark:

On the trek up in the dark, we didn't capture too many photos because it was very cold, dark, and insanely windy. The wind would blow snow which would whip you in the face, we definitely could have benefited from bringing ski goggles, ha! Pretty early on in the trek, one of Austin's crampons actually broke. This was very, very unfortunate and in that moment I thought to myself, why didn't we grab an extra just in case? :( I also thought that the guide would have an extra and I was very surprised he didn't have one. Austin kept hiking along and used 2 trekking poles for better balance since he lacked traction with one foot. He was an absolute trooper and was very positive. For the hike itself, there was a lot of crispy wind-blown snow and a few rocks exposed from the wind. Some sections of the hike had 1 meter (~3 feet) deep snow. Here is a shot one of the guys took in the beginning of the summit day:

About 400 meters (1/4 mile) from the summit was the crux (most difficult section) of the trek. It was a semi-exposed section where we had to traverse across a steep slope of snow that had had a base of ice, this was the most challenging part for all of us and even more so for Austin since he only had one crampon. It was actually pretty scary to traverse and I would try to help boot pack and kick in a foot placement for Austin but he slipped a few times regardless since he didn't have a crampon on one of his feet. Our guide wasn't really helping initially which was very frustrating so we asked him to stay close and help support Austin. Austin was a champ and made it across the crux and we were on to the summit where we would spend about 5 minutes since it was so cold and windy. At the summit, it was -18C (0F) with a feel of -25C (-13F). The wind was also blowing around 33 kmh (20mph). It was the coldest weather I have been in for a mountain excursion. Here are some photos from the summit:

The trek down from the summit was sooo beautiful since we did not see our surroundings on our way up due to the lack of sunlight. There were stunning mountain walls, frozen waterfalls, and so much more! Here are some photos from our trek down:

Once we made it back to the refuge safely from the peak, we had a warm lunch and packed up our items so we could finish the hike back down to Imlil. It was quite a slippery hike down but once we made it to where there was no snow, we could jam down the trail at a quicker pace. We all were absolutely exhausted and gassed once we were back to town so we grabbed some food and then headed back to the gite. On our way back to the gite, we ended up walking with some kids that were presumably walking home from school. None of us spoke the same language but it turned into a snowball fight for the whole 20 minute walk back, haha. It was hilarious! I met two little girls both named Fatima, they were adorable and so competitive with throwing snowballs at me, ha! Austin made friends with some of the boys and one followed him the whole way back trying to trip him and mess with him. Austin always makes friends with any kids we meet and knows how to play, laugh, and have fun with them!

Once we got back to the gite, we had hot tea and eventually dinner. We then all melted into bed since we were beyond exhausted. It was an incredible two days of trekking and I can't think of a better squad to do it with! We all struggled together but also pumped each other up and it was such a fun time with Austin, Jolan, Jarrah, and Lee! From surfing to mountaineering, we found out that we can do it all, ha!