DAY 1:   MARRAKECH - AMERZGANE - ANEZAL - TAMLAKHOUT.
Reasonably early morning departure for our 178km. drive towards the south from Marrakech, over the Tizi n'Tichka (2260m) of the Western High Atlas and along down the Assif Imini Valley to Taliouine d'Amerzgane, where we turn towards the south-west and the Assif Iriri Valley until we reach the village, and important animal market of Anezal.  Here we alight from our vehicle, take our picnic and meet up with our mules and muleteers, always a fun part of our hiking holidays. We set off now towards the west for a 2hour hike to the village of Tamlakhout (1700m) for our dinner and overnight accommodation in a Berber Gîte d'étape.

 

DAY 2:   TAMLAKHOUT - TAMAZIRRT - TIZOUÂD.
After breakfast we strike out towards the south-west for our 7hour hike across the Oued n'Aït Ouissadene, through almond trees and a blasted stony plain with its occasional sparse fields of corn, potato and wheat, until we reach the remote village of Tamazzirt (1800m). Here we shall see few men, as they are off working in the distant towns in order to make ends meet.From here we shall follow a piste which leads us up to the Imghi Heights (2381m), where we shall stop around midday for our picnic. Our afternoon is spent hiking along the now almost-flat piste to the Berber hamlet of Tizouâd (2030m) where we shall stop for dinner and overnight accommodation, either in bivouac or in a Berber family's 

 

DAY 3:   TIZOUÂD - OUED IRIRI - TASSIROUÄT.
Once breakfast has been tucked away we set out further south-east for some 7 hours along a piste leading us across the wild, windswept plateau, up and through the stark Tizi (2300m) and down to the Oued Iriri, where we'll take a welcome pause for a picnic near some rare fields of potato. The afternoon is spent hiking towards the west and the end of the oued through a chaos of black rock until we arrive up at the village of Asrir n'Tassirouât, where we'll dine whilst our camp for the night is being set up amidst a volcanic moonscape.

 

DAY 4:   TASSIROUÄT - JBEL SIRWA SUMMIT - ÂAZIB N''IRIRI - AMMASSINE.
After breakfast, whilst our muleteers and mules set off for the Âazib n'Iriri, we strike out for a 2½ hour attack on the summit of this isolated volcanic twin-peak (3304m), with its strange columns of basalt, cones of petrified lava and towers of sunblasted rock. The final metres involve scrambling, but the panorama from this summit bridging the High and Anti Atlas ranges of dramatic gorges, blasted plains, a cliff village and the nearby twin cones of Jbel Tikniouine (2948m) (2905) to the north, Jbel Guiliz (2906m) to the south and of Jbel Talzouggaght (2841m) to the west give one a good idea of previous volcanic activity and of Nature's implacable progress. When ready, we set off back down along a winding path for some 5 to 6 hours steady hiking towards the north-east through fields of saffron crocus to the Âazib n'Iriri (2340m), where we meet up once more with our muleteers and our picnic.

This afternoon we shall set off down through a chaos of black rocks, stones and pebbles towards the remote village of Ammassine (2000m). We'll take a stroll around this strange village with its large storage places of wheat and hay, where we'll have dinner and camp for the night.

DAY 5:   AMMASINE - TACHAKOUCHT - TAMLAKHOUT.
after Breakfast tucked away, we're off today on an 8 hour hike down to the Oued Tachakoucht and along a winding piste through isolated groves of almond, olive and orange trees until we come to the village of Tachakoucht and, after a brief visit, we'll carry on to the Tachakoucht Reservoir and sudden fields of corn to picnic by a spring.  Later we continue down a stony piste skirting the hamlet of Tamazzirt to arrive at Tamlakhout, our Gîte d'étape for dinner and evening's entertainment provided by our merry band of muleteers.


DAY 6:   TAMLAKHOUT - ANEZAL - AMERZGANE - TADDERT - MARRAKECH.A
fter breakfast, we rejoin our vehicle to take us back to the north up over the Tizi n'Tichka to stop at Taddert (1650m) for our lunch in the High Atlas mountains, to arrive at Marrakech around 2 in the afternoon.