Departing Marrakech early in the morning, enjoy a pleasant drive south, winding through the Moulay Brahim gorge and the upper valley, around the higher foothills to the west of the High Atlas and our Imi oughlad (1450m) trailhead, Jbel Toubkal elevation 4167m, reaching the highest peaks of North Africa, Aglzim 3650m and Aksoual 38847m, towering before us. Here we disembark and meet the Berber mule crew. We head northwest for a 2-hour acclimatization hike along the zigzag mule trail, passing cornfields, pines and junipers, to Tiz n’tachete (2000m), where we stop to review Imlil and Ait Ouazaden valley, then half an hour drive to Imi n’ifri and our picnic..Then trek slowly southwest along a dirt road for about 2.5 hours to the red clay terraced villages of Assif n’ Ait Ouazaden and Tiziane (1750m), where we stay in local Berber houses.

After breakfast, we now start hiking along the Assif n’Ait Ouazaden valley, passing walnut groves, to Tizi n’taghrhourte (1995m above sea level) and then through the rare almost flat section to the spring of Assaka After about 2.5 hours of travel The walk is relatively easy and we’ll stop for a picnic in stunning silence. Our afternoon hike will take us down the edge of the forest until we reach the Berber village of D’knt (1870m) or Agouns n Assoul, where we will have dinner and spend the night in a campsite.

We set out in the morning on a 3-hour hike through walnut groves, corn and barley fields, to meet many sheep and shepherds – women and children stooping to carry 20kg of sticks and dried herbs. We walked through the Tizi n’tagdalte, descending among the juniper trees until we came to a small spring in the woods, where we stopped for a picnic. Refreshed, we walked about 3 hours uphill, winding trails to a small river at the beginning of the Assif n’Ait Ouaszden valley. From here we enter the village of Tizi oussem (1850m above sea level) and then the summer village of Tamsoult at our camp.