We made it to the top of Mount Toubkal! This was not without its difficulties. I have to admit I may have massively underestimated this trip.
Sitting a top the summit of Toubkal for a group photo
Yesterday was a nice walk from Aremd to get to the base camp. The total assent was 1200m over 6hrs at a nice pace, and we comfortably arrived by lunch time. Base Camp has 2 choices of accommodation, option 1 is considerably newer than the other more ‘rustic’ building. Obviously we knew which one we would be staying in. As we went to dump our bags in the hovel we were staying at, we found out the group would be sleeping in one dorm room, all 14 of us! Immediately before entering the building we were told to guard all our belongings as even socks tend to go ‘missing’ from this place.
In the afternoon we had the option to go on an acclimatisation walk, so with nothing else to amuse ourselves with we decided to go. I was tired and full from lunch, as the walk turned increasingly difficult I actually began to regret leaving the grimy lodge. We eventually got to a point where there was a 300m steep assent. The guide really sold it to us by saying its hard and it will be both cold and windy at the top. Alternately you could just walk back. He asked for a raise of hands for those who wanted to go back. My lone hand rose, obviously this group of fitness freaks would want to go to the top. Is Mount Toubkal not enough for these people?! I bet they want to jog up as well. Anyway, another woman looked slightly relieved when she saw my hand up and offered to walk back with me. So I didn’t get lost of course.
For tea we literally had a pot of curried lentils and pasta. I think the cook is having a laugh knowing that we are all sleeping in one room tonight!
We awoke for the summit climb at 5am. I had seen the path we were going on yesterday and it already looked terrifying enough without doing it in the dark. Of course the batteries decided to go on my head torch so I spent most of the morning arguing with Karl as to who was going to get the hand torch. We did have a back-up plan but that involved climbing with a wind up torch which wouldn’t have been the most practical for scrambling over the rocks. When we did set off it was dark, cold and there were sheer drops around me. We were expected to scramble then walk along a narrow path with gale force winds blowing us around. This all resulted in me having a slight panic attack. I had wrapped myself up in so many layers and combined with the altitude I did at one point think that I couldn’t breathe. I had to stop and tear some clothes off and clam myself down. At this moment I questioned if I was actually going to make it to the top, considering we had only been walking for 20 minutes.
Once we got past the first precarious section the sun came out and the path did level out slightly. Thankfully we took a really slow pace so I could breathe normally and I didn’t suffer from any altitude headaches. I did feel slightly nauseous but I think that was due to the lentils having their effect on the group. I soon began to believe there was a possibility I could make it to the top. After a long slog with battering winds, where I spent most of the time questioning why the hell I was putting myself through this, we did eventually make it to the top. It was freezing and I was glad I had lugged my down jacket to the top which, along with all my other layers, made it just bearable to sit there for a while, soaking in the sense of achievement. Others in the group were not so well prepared for the cold and one guy was reduced to wearing another man’s socks on his hands.
As we made our way down the path the winds picked up and I genuinely feared that I would be blown of the mountain. The path was relentless, just small rocks and scree making every step like it was on ice. I fell over a lot! At one point I fell on my arse 3 times without move an inch. I just couldn’t step forward without falling over! Thankfully one of the guides helped me get past this recurring nightmare I was living in.
I walked very, very, slowly down the mountain, Karl hurt his knee and he still walked faster than me. When I did eventually make it to the bottom there was a beautiful waterfall which we had missed when we set off in the dark. Once I reached the water a fantastic sense of relief came over me. At last it was over!
