| Jebel Oukaimeden Vacations and Luxury Travel Packages |
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Like the Toubkal tour, the four-day hike around the Oukaimeden and Angour Massifs starts out in Imlil. It is, however, a little less strenuous. The highest point is the Tizi n'Tacheddirt at 3,230 m (10,336 ft). In case you hire a pack-mule (recommended!), its driver usually can also serve as guide through the region.
On the southern edge of Imlil you cross a ford shaded by walnut trees and follow a trail on the other side of the Mizane that leads uphill eastward to the village of Tamatert, and the grave of the lalla imitaza. That the Atlas Berbers venerate holy women is condemned by the ulema (Koran scholars) as a dubious pre-Islamic custom. The dirt road then starts to wind its way along hairpin bends, which can be cut across to the Tizi n'Tamatert pass (2,279 m/7,292 ft). A solid two hours should be encumbered to achieve this hike.
At the pass you turn to the east and follow an easy trail (no change of altitude) with a great view over the lmenane Valley and beyond to Jebel Oukaimeden (3,273 m/10,473 ft) in the north. This road was constructed for the planned exploitation of the area's barium deposits. After another 1.5 hours the path descends to Ouanesekra (2,050 m/6,560 ft) and then contines up the Imenane Valley to the nearby village of Tacheddirt (2,280 m/7,296 ft). The latter has provided lodging for more than a few hikers in its day; a CAF lodge has room for 15, and offers kitchen facilities. Tenting is scarcely possible since the village is surrounded by intensively cultivated terraces. There is no store here, although bread can be obtained from the farmers.
Sworn campers continue their hike uphill to the northeast. After about 1.5 hours, the low wind-break walls of an azib provide a camping spot (at approximately 2,600 m/8,320 ft). The herdsmen encountered frequently in April sometimes offer mutton for sale. This meat, roasted on a spit, immediately restores the energy used to get here. The sheep's head is indeed a prized delicacy among the mule drivers and herdsmen!
In another two hours the highest pass of the entire tour, the Tizi n'Tacheddirt (3,230 m/10,336 ft), is finally reached. This is followed by a three-hour descent along the narrow valley of the Assif Iabassene, passing the archaic-looking village of Iabassene on down into the Ourika Valley. There is a rarely-used CAF cabin in Timichchi (1,960 m/6,272 ft). Deviating from the tour one can, at this point, easily head down the valley and after a good halt day reach Setti Fatma and also the asphalt route S 513 to Marrakech.
Now, if you go without deviating, the hike goes upriver, passing Timguist and Anemiter, to the small Berber village of Agouns (2,300 m/7,360 ft). There is a camping spot located to the southeast of the village on the main .seguia (irrigation channel).
On the next day it's a three-hour climb up to the Tizi n'Oahattar (3,150 m/10,080ft). From the top, Angour (3,616 m/11,571 ft) can be seen. Descending westwards, the vegetation, which has been scanty up to this point, changes noticeably. Moist air masses coming in all the time from the Atlantic have created lush meadows here.
After about a two hour's descent you arrive at the winter-sports resort of Oukaimeden (2,650 m/8,480 ft). Particularly with its seven ski-lifts on Jebel Oukaimeden (3,273 m/10,473 ft), it is without equal in North Africa. The restaurant Chez Juju as well as the hotels De 1'Angour and Imlil are only open in winter and high summer. On the other hand, the campground (on a small lake) and the thoroughly comfortable CAF refuge, equipped with 160 beds, cooking facilities, hot showers and even a bar (!) are open year-round. Prehistoric rock engravings of ritual daggers and cattle well over 5,000 years old can be viewed just behind the hotels. An orientation plaque near the radio tower at altitude 2,784 (8,908 ft) names the mountains and ranges of the surrounding panorama: from Angour to the southeast, on to Jebel Oukaimeden and the Toubkal Massif and out to Marrakech in the north. A rather curvy road constructed especially for the benefit of tour busses leads down into the Ourika Valley.
Leaving the ski area early in the morning heading southwest, follow an alpine path (2,500 m/8,000 ft) to the Tizi n'Tiratene (2,450 m/7,840 ft), then cross the Imenane River at Amskere. After the ascent to the Tizi n'Aguersioua (2,150 m/6,880 ft) in the west, the route drops to Aguersioul in the Mizane Valley. Finally, following trail P 6038 southward, you arrive at the village of Imlil again after a total of ten hours. |
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