Toubqal

I just hiked the tallest mountain in North Africa! It's called Jebel (mountain) Toubqal and it's just south of Marrakesh. Along with friends Sam, Rachel Rubin, Stephanie and Saad Charife, I took 3 days and slowly but surely made my way up the cold and sometimes quite treacherous path to the top.

On Day 1 we woke up in a little town called Imlil where many hikes take-off. We decided against hiring a guide which contributed to our first mistake: waking up waaaaay too early. After hearing horror stories of independent-minded hiker friends sleeping in and then being unable to find the path without other trekkers to follow, we decided to get up at 4AM to have breakfast before the sunrise (since it was also the first day of Ramadan) and then take off. Little did we know, that the final mealtime on Ramadan mornings is much earlier than the actual sunrise. So we were up and fed and completely groggy and we actually made it outside with our packs on our backs before we realized that it was still totally dark and we couldn't go yet. So we went back to bed for another hour and then started walking at first light. We were very tired but it the 6 hours on the path were beautiful.

The early morning mountain path from Imlil to the Toubkal Refuge

The Toubkal refuge, where we spent our second two nights

We arrived safely at the refuge nestled in between the mountains for our first night of sleep and altitude acclimating. Food was expensive but we came prepared with canned fish, trail mix, fruit and bread. Plus there were interested travelers to meet and lots and lots of sleep to catch up on.

Day 2 was Summit Day. We got up early again, but this time not quite early enough. We planned to follow a friend we had met the day before, so as to avoid hiring a guide again. But somehow he got away from us before we were quite ready and we ended up sprinting after the groups ahead so we wouldn't get lost. Thanks to Sam's stealthy hiking and our team's good attitude, we were able to keep a visual on the other groups in order to find the trail in an otherwise very tricky, almost trail-less terrain. From there it was only 3.5 hours of scaling rocks, slipping on our butts and panting our way to the tippy top. And then 3 hours back down on almost total skreet- loose rocks that sent us flipping and falling but, hamdullilah, without serious injury.

Rachel Rubin clings for dear life on one of the harder parts of the trail, narrowly dodging falling rocks that targeted our heads

Sam poses at a peak that we hoped was the top but ended up being about 20 minutes from the real summit

At the pyramid on top of Toubqal

The view from the top of North Africa

A happy Team Toubqal at the zenith of our journey

Stephanie carefully makes her way down, back to the refuge

A super happy me at the waterfalls right by the refuge, about to soak my tired and blistery feet in the cold, cold water

We made it back to the refuge, safe and tired and ready for another night of chatting, card-playing and early bedtimes. At sunrise on Day 3 we were up and ready for the 4 hours walking back to Imlil. I'm not normally much of a hiker, but this trip definitely rejuvenated me and reminded me how much I love the outdoors. I had a great team of friends, plenty of time for relaxation and reflection, and I accomplished a feat I had mentally set out to complete from the moment I arrived Morocco. Check it off the bucket list. And maybe add a few more mountains for future expeditions....