Atlas route in early February, then Erg Chebbe
 

hi,
We (a Toyota Amazon and a Unimog) are thinking to try go from Midelt to Tinerhir using the MH1 and MH2 routes from Chris Scotts "Morocco Overland" book. Are these likely to be passable in about a week from now? (end of Jan, early Feb?). We're not too worried about cold conditions once it's passable. Has anyone been that way this year?

We are planning to get to Erg Chebbe for a few days in the sand, before heading west where our friends in the Toyota will head North for home, and we plan to explore a bit more south from there.


Thanks for any tips anyone has!
Merv.

Moglander’s Travels | The travels of Moglander, and all that sail in her.

Merv, MH2 is Tarmac all the way through to Tinerhir now. I came through in Nov just after a tiny bit of snow and it was clear. Not sure what its like in Feb but I would think now its asphalt it gets cleared.

You've seen my flickr but heading west I did MS2 5 & 9 all great fun. I didn't venture down to Chebbi though.

If your heading west from Tinerhir to Er Foud a stop at Hansjorg Voths sculptures is a good way to fill a few hours

Mark

The initial part of MH1 at the Cirque de Jaffar had a couple of rocks partly blocking the piste near the top of the descent. I haven't heard of them being cleared and I don't know whether a Unimog would get through. More information here.

There's a couple of dubious characters who hang around at the end of the piste where it meets the tarmac road, see here. If someone tries to encourage you to stop, please run them over. ;)

Thanks Tim,

Looks like MH1 is out for me, the camper body is a full 2.5 metres wide which is a pita for this kind of thing.

And I'm all set for "clearing" the road. Not many folks would stand in front of a moving mog :-)

Merv.

Hi folks,
We've travelled south to Erg Chebbi, and west from there to Zagora via ms3/6 and ms4. It was very dry and dusty, and the nights cold but barely freezing.

we plan to travel ms7 to foum zguid over the next few days.

We are seeing very few bikes around (millions of local scooters), but would like to meet up with anyone travelling for a few days.

Merv and Sarah.

Moglander’s Travels | The travels of Moglander, and all that sail in her.

A few minutes of video from MS3/6 Moglander in Sahara - YouTube

Will be doing FZ to Mhamid in the next couple of weeks, would appreciate an update.

Tim

fz?

Hi Tim,
I'm not sure where fz is? Fez?

In general: It's cold! even chatting to locals and regular visitors, it seems this is a colder year than most. it's started to warm (seemingly, does not feel it!) but it has a way to go.

We went from Fez via Azrou. In the high atlas we spent 2 days wandering some smaller roads, barely wide enough the for mog, then headed for Erg Chebbi. We wild camped out the back of the rg, near the old ghost town (which of course, is still inhabited). We then took the piste over to Zagora, and that was great. No problems for our friends Toyota, or the mog. It seems thre was rain recently enough to leave the sand hard (I'm no expert, it's what we were told).

From Zagora, we followed a tip from a guy we met, and went on a superb drive out from Zagora towards Foum Zguid (the direct piste, north of the mountains), but about 1/2 way over, turned left to climb the mountain. We got some stunning pictures there, and there was no-one on the top. It's a kind of flar plateau with hills on either side., and this brought us back towards Tagaounite, and we went down to Mhamid, and followed the piste over to Foum Zguid. We took the more northerly route, and it was bad, as the "road" was very very rocky, and we travelled at about 6kph. We looked forward to the deep sand as it was so smooth. It seems is best to keep as far south as you can for the smoother pistes.

We are now in Ouarzazate, and plan to spend a few days exploring the mountains before heading west to try find some warmth....

Bring your Thermals :-) Happy to answer any specifics you might have that I may or may be able to answer!

p.s. We had coffee with Peter in Bikersworld, He also mentioned you are on your way. Small world!

Merv.

FZ is Foum Zguid
 

Hi Merv,

Yes, although there's a graded road most of the way from Zagora to FZ, the old piste is much more leisurely and enjoyable.

You're right about the northerly piste from Mhamid to FZ. The locals call it the "route de la montagne" and its rocky, bangy, crashy and kills shock absorbers. It's the only route if Lac Iriki is very wet.

Glad that you're having fun.