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The lushness of high fields

We drove up the limestone-tough piste above, backtracking as it were on GTAM95, and near the head of the Tezgui valley camped below a prominent bump (2392m) in the middle of the glen. There were many nomad tents and flocks, and they were beginning to pack up and depart for lower southern pastures before winter came in. There was a definite end-of-season feeling in the evening chill. It was dark at 18.00 and the night was cold, clear and with a shock of stars. A big toad kept trying to come in to share my tent.

The ascent went happily, making a long, gentle circling to hit the crest just east of broad 3103m (Bou Ouzuou, ‘the windy one’). We passed a rocky bulge on the way to a cone beyond, but a white line of snow indicated a path skirting on the inner rim, with just room between the cliffs and slope above. The amount of snow increased after 3193m, but it was firm and friendly. Another cone gave a view to the 3242m summit. Square ruins might have been the base for a one-time trig point. We sat for ages admiring the wall-to-wall view – from Ayyachi in the far north-east to Mgoun features in the south-west. Today we had naming of peaks. Someone joked that not only could I pick them out – I could pronounce them! (Maybe.) We backtracked and went on to 2901m Aftis on the western arm before descending to camp. It was such a relaxing, perfect day I didn’t even note times taken; just took the benison of a benign hill day.