Thursday 8th January Toubkal base camp to Timesguida summit and return 10.6km; 955m ascent It was another early start this morning and with tired legs after Toubkal yesterday, it felt like a real effort to get up and get ready to walk! Crampons attached and ice axes in hand, we were ready and heading off […]
Bagging Jebel Toubkal!
Wednesday 7th January Toubkal base camp to Toubkal summit and return 8.8km; 970m ascent We set out for the trek to the summit at 6:30am, meaning we had nearly 2 hours of walking for the sun came up and there was daylight. I was expecting it to be absolutely freezing and dressed accordingly in three […]
Trekking into base camp
Tuesday 6th January Aroumd to Toubkal base camp 10.1km; 1,200m ascent When I took my kit bag out of the car at the airport on Saturday, one of the seems split! There wasn’t much I could do about it but get it wrapped in plastic for the flight and see if there were any for […]
A first glimpse of Toubkal
Monday 5th January Imili to Aroumd 2.5km; 230m ascent After a late morning start, we drove up to Imili. Initially the road headed out across the flat plains and quickly you could see how the real people of Marrakesh lived – traditionally and in quite a lot of poverty. Soon the Atlas Mountains appeared on […]
This time it’s on two feet!
Sunday 5th January So I’ve headed to Marrakesh to join a group doing a winter climb of Jebel Toubkal. It’s not been a lifetime ambition of mine to climb North Africa’s highest peak, but the dates of the trip dotted exactly with my annual leave plans and so it seemed like a good way to […]
A short ride across no-man’s land
Sunday 29th December Day 12 – Wadi Jizzi to Al Ain 48km; 70m ascent Sunday was a dream of a ride – slightly downhill almost all the way and no headwind! We were through the Wadi Jizi Omani border post by 8am and found a little cafe for paratha egg wraps for breakfast! Not the […]
A final crossing of the Hajar Mountains
Saturday 28th December Day 11 – Sohar to Wadi Jizi 73km; 660m ascent We needed to be back in Al Ain on 29th so the time had come to leave the Omani coast and pedal one more time over the Hajar Mountains. We had decided against going back into the […]
Just a twiddle along the coast!
Friday 27th December Day 10 – Saham to Sohar 42km; 75m ascent Having fully explored the Hajar Mountains over the past 10 days or so, and fully feeling it in our legs, we decided to keep following the coast north and eventually take the “low” route back over the mountains to Al Ain. […]
An easy day along the coast
Thursday 26th December Day 9 – Doqal to Saham 43km; 70m ascent Having pulled up a bit short of the coast yesterday, we planned an easy day today – a slow ride down to the sea and then along to Saham, where we knew we could find some accommodation. The […]
Aiming for the coast
Wednesday 25th December Day 8 – Miskin to Doqal 75km; 905m ascent Happy Christmas from the Omani desert! I was woken up this morning by the sunrise call to prayer at the local mosque. Not really how you imagine you’ll start Christmas Day! 5:32am was bit early to be getting […]
