Early morning departure from Marrakech for a pleasant drive south, winding through the Moulay Brahim Gorges and high valleys to reach the highest foothills of the Western High Atlas Mountains and our Imi Oghlad trail (1450m), with Jbel Toubkal, at 4167m, the highest peak in North Africa, Aglzim (3650m), and Aksoual (38847m), looming ahead. Here, we disembark from our vehicle and meet the Berber muleteer team. We head northwest for a 2-hour acclimatization hike along winding mule trails, passing through cornfields, pine and juniper woods to Tiz n'Tachete (2000 m), where we'll stop to admire the Imlikl and Ait Oussaden valleys before continuing another half hour to Imi n'Ifri and our picnic lunch on the grounds, followed by an overnight stay at the lodge.

After breakfast, we set off on a hike along the Assif n'Ait Oussaden Valley, passing through walnut groves, to Tizi n'Taghrhourte (1995m) and a rare, almost flat section to reach the Assaka spring, where we will stop for our picnic in the field amidst impressive silence after about 2.5 hours of relatively easy walking. Our afternoon hike takes us along the edges 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 bivouac or lodge.

We set off on our 3-hour morning hike through walnut groves, cornfields, and barley fields, greeting the many sheep and goat herders—and the women and children bent over with 20 kg of bundles of wood and dried grass. We cross the Tizi n'Tagdalte, descending among the juniper bushes until we reach a small spring nestled among the trees, where we stop for our picnic. Once refreshed, we descend the winding trails of the upper slopes for about 3 hours to reach a small river at the beginning of the Assif n'Ait Oussaden Valley. From there, we enter the village of Tizi Oussem (1,850 m) and then continue to the summer village of Tamsoult for our camp or bivouac.

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Trek to a small waterfall in Azib Tamsoulte and return to cross the Tizi 'n Mzik pass (2,500 m). We reach the main Toubkal valley at Imlil, armed (1,950 m), where we have lunch and spend the night in our guesthouse with Omar the Red.