DAY 4: Trek To the Refuge

After a cold restless night and a hearty breakfast of porridge and bread in the gite's ground floor, we were ready to start our 11km trek to the Neltner Refuge, set at the heart of the High Atlas Mountains. Two of the the three mules that will carry our kit bags as far as the small shrine at Sidi Chamharouch, had already arrived and were being loaded. From there on porters will carry out kit bags to the Refuge.

Breakfast at the gite in Aremd

 

A muleteer loading up our kit bags. The mules will carry the bags as far as Sidi Chamharouch

At around 08:00, We donned our back packs and set off on foot down the path that cuts across a dry stony bed of an ancient lake in this part of the Mizane Valley. The valley itself was carved out by a huge glacier millions of years ago. The dry bed is strewn with loose rocks deposited by flash floods that created a lake in the valley. The hill on which one the villages stands is actually the huge rock deposit of these flash floods. Mohammed tells me that that some point in the past, the far end of the lake broke banks and the water slowly began to drain out, leaving the dry bed. The locals use huge sieves to separate fine sediment from rocks in the bed to make new houses in the villages.

The dry river bed of the Mizane Valley

Part of the land in the area belongs to the locals as is evident by the terraced fields and irrigated plots on the slopes on each side of the valley. The mountains however belong as a National Heritage to the state of Morocco.

The two mules. led by a muleteer, overtook us as we crossed the dry bed, carrying three bags of equipment each. The third mule could be seen coming up the path far behind, carry additional supplies.

Having crossed the dry bed, we trek up the zig-zag path on the eastern slope of the valley. We have our first break stop at a cafe located further up the slope, offering amazing views of the Mizane Valley floor that we just crossed. After a cup of Moroccan Tea at the cafe, we headed on up the path towards Sidi Chamharouch, a settlement further up the Mizane valley that has grown around a domed shrine and a place of Pilgrimage for many muslims. Here we crossed the river Mizane by a foot bridge, effectively ending up on the other opposite side of the valley. We made another stop at a cafe offering Morrocan Soup and freshly squeezed orange juice. This is as far as the mules will go. Our kit bags and supplies get unloaded and transferred to local porters who will carry them the rest of the way as far as the Neltner Refuge. 

The cafe at Sidi Chamharouch.

The snowline also begins here. The zig-zag path up the slope of the valley becomes a little trickier with large sections covered in snow. Mohammed had asked us to carry our crampons in our day sacks in case the snow had hardened into ice, but it was still soft so no need to put them on.  We continue up the path that follows the valley. From this point, it was more or less a 3 hour straight run path (with a few up & downs) to the Refuge, with spectacular views of the Mizane river running through the valley floor and the snow covered slopes on the opposite side.

Sidi Chamharouch is also the end of a ski run directly from the refuge. Skiers come down the valley from the refuge on the opposite slopes as far as the shrine and then hire porters or mules to carry their skies all the way back to Imlil. After 30 minutes or so we saw the first skiers of the day coming down.

Crossing the slopes above Sidi Chamharouch

We stopped twice more before we made the final approach to the Refuge, which was to be our home and Base Camp for the next three nights. The Refuges (there are two right next to each other, Mouflon & Neltner), large brick build structures, can be seen from the approach about 30 minutes before you arrive there, offering a great respite from the weary trek of the past 5.5 hours. At approximately 14:00, we finally arrive at Neltner Refuge.

The final approach to the Toubkal refuges

The compound of the Neltner Refuge was bustling with activity and quite overwhelming, littered with kit bags, equipment, skiers, trekkers, guides, porters & support staff going about their business. It was a direct contrast to the quiet & peaceful walk up from Imlil.

Our kit bags had been brought up in advance by the porters (they are fast !!), stacked on one side of the main doorway. Mohammed told us to collect our bags, remove and leave our trekking shoes on the shelves in the dry room and head up to our allocated dorm room. All the dorm rooms were named after the peaks of the Atlas Mountains. Ours was the Ouanoumkrim (4088m), one of the peaks we were going to climb. 

The Toubkal Refuges, Mouflon in the foreground and Neltner set behind it. The isolated building to the right is the mountain weather station sending data back to Marrakech

The refuges were set on the open valley floor with towering mountains on both sides. There were three floors in the Neltner Refuge. The ground floor housed the main entrance and registration booth, the servery, two dining areas (with log fire stoves), a dry room, a living room (also with log fire stove) and sleeping quarters for the guides, cooks and support staff. The first floor housed dorm rooms for the guests. There was access to the balcony area from the floor. All the toilets (traditional squatting as well as modern sitting toilets) and shower rooms were in the lower ground floor.

There were four dorm rooms all with a varying number of wood framed bunk beds with mattresses and cubby holed shelves for our kit bags. Our group was in the smallest dorm room with 6 bunk beds with mattresses, shunted right next to each other, sleeping 12 people. We would be occupying 8 beds. 4 members of another group, due to arrive later, will be sharing the room with us.

Our Dorm Room, the "Ouanoukrim"

It was quite ovewhelming, as we all tried to select our beds and cubby holes, unpack our bags and  generally settle down for the night in the small room. The refuge was full. Three groups were due to leave today, but 5 more will be arriving soon. A total of approximately 70 people would be housed in the refuge for the next 2/3 nights.

At 14:00, lunch was served for us in one of the dining rooms. Moroccan soup, followed by a main course of salad, pasta & tuna.

After lunch we were free to explore the refuge at leisure. Some of our group went out on to the balcony to soak up the late afternoon sun, others went to the dorm room to catch get some shut eye. I took the opportunity to prepare my day sack for the next day and top up the water camel back bladder with more water (purchased at 12 MAD per 1.5l bottle at the refuge). I don't like to leave things to the last minute. There's more chance of forgetting something that could be important, making the climb more difficult than it already is.

There was a small selection of confectionery and soft drinks available for purchase at the refuge. The price was at least twice as much as in Marrakech. But then it would be. Everything at the refuge would is brought up the mountain path from Imlil, initially by mules as far as Sidi chamharouch and thereafter by porters. It's the only way to transport things this far up into the mountains. The cost of this is bound to be significant and therefore reflected in the purchase price.

There was a great deal of trust at the refuge, which I found quite remarkable.  If you wanted to purchase something, you simply asked for it at the front window (or in the case of water, grabbed a bottle) and marked a tally for that item against your name on a list. Even if you had a hot shower (10 MAD) or shared the warmth of the log fire (firewood was 10 MAD per kg), you simply marked it up. On your last day, you settled your bill. No one checked up on you to see if you had a hot shower or sat by the fireplace in the living room.

I realised after a couple of days that there was an amazing ethos of honesty about the whole place which I found quite humbling. There was also a great deal of respect for each others property at the refuge. No one stole your equipment or personal belongings. All guests were there for a common purpose and we all understood what it would feel like if someone took your things, even if by mistake. The support staff also have no desire or intent to take  your things, as any incidents of theft would only reflect badly on the refuge and negatively affect the only stream of income that keeps this place afloat and sustain their livelihood.

At 15:00, we were to meet Mohammed & Hussein for a crash course in Self Arresting techniques using the ice axe. This was mandatory and essential. I had already learnt these techniques during our winter climb of Ben Nevis, so this gave me a chance to perfect the techniques. With our crampons on and ice axes in hand, we followed Mohammed to a steep slope covered in snow where he practically demonstrated the technique and each of the members of the group repeated them one after the other. He showed us how to wedge the adze end of the axe in the cup of the shoulder and use the pick end to dig into the snow/ice to slow down or stop slippage in the event of a fall on the slopes. He showed us four Self arrest techniques : Sliding down a slope on the stomach feet first; sliding down on your back, feet first; Sliding down on stomach, head first and finally using the ice axe handle as an anchor in the event that the axe was not initially in the right position. A most useful exercise as it could one day save our lives !! 

Practising Self-Arrest Techniques

Tea with biscuits was served around 17:00. While we were all together, Mohammed took the opportunity to brief us on the expected events of the next day. We were to be up at 6:00 am for breakfast at 6.30am, ready to depart for the climb to Toubkal by 7:00am.

Dinner was served at 19:00. There was more tasty Moroccan soup, followed by a chicken tagine topped with vegetables and boiled eggs. After the evening meal, we all moved from our dining room to the living room to make space for the next group to dine, where we served a special ribena flavoured tea, that apparently helps you to sleep. Meanwhile, Ingver had been out in the cold taking pictures of the night sky. He managed to capture a stunning image of a shooting star leaving a beautiful trail in the Eastern sky on on a 90 sec bulb exposure.

Chicken Tagine with Vegetables & Boiled Eggs

I had never worked with long exposures in dark environments before, so this seemed the perfect time to learn. I managed to capture a couple of shooting stars that burnt out quickly as soon as they entered the atmosphere. Sadly, not quite the same clarity as Ingver's picture, but a useful learning experience.

I was the last to retire to our dorm around 20:30. The others were already snuggled in their sleeping bags with their books, iPads or kindles. I set my alarm for the next morning, put on my foam ear-plugs and settled down in my sleeping bag to try and get some sleep.