A few photos from our trek through the Draa Valley and Dades Gorge, in route to the High Atlas Mountains…
compose Logan Watts
time May 14, 2014
comment 5
In the days after our adventure in the Sahara, the sciroccos continued to blow a notable fog of sand around the foot of the Draa Valley. We were ready to beeline towards the High Atlas and escape the dust. But first we had to take the long dirt track that meanders up the Draa, following the river and a continuous wave of green palm oasis. The same route followed by caravans from the Sahara centuries before. From there we would take a combination of buses to get us to a town beneath the Dades Gorge, where we’d start our trek. Here are a few photos from our time in the Draa and a couple from the Dades.
The Dust continues to blow as we leave the town of Mhamid.
A mudbrick kasbah in Zagora.
Inside the fortress walls of the kasbah.
Colorful dressed women walking the streets of Zagora.
Leaving the touristy town of Zagora on a piste road that would wind up the valley to Agdz.
A fellow cyclist on the track.
The road veered away from the oasis for a bit and the landscape became stark.
A bike photo op turned portrait when this young man came up to check out the tires.
A pile of bicycles at a local school.
Watermelons growing in the desert.
A Berber language, I think, written on a building in the valley.
It seems that as we move North, the children are getting slightly more interested.
Looking for a campsite.
This one will do… nestled on the floor of the oasis.
The walls of a kasbah.
The Atlas glistening in the distance, outside of Ouarzazate.
I usually try and steer clear of these tourist snake guys.
The start of green carpet at the floor of the Dades gorge.
Working our way up.
Wildflowers start to pop as we start getting up in altitude.
A woman works the fields in the valley.
The contrast is amazing as the hills go from nothing to green at the river.
Stay tuned for more from the High Atlas Mountains…
For more information on this route, including GPS and logistics, click here. Also, check out our growing list of bikepacking and dirt road touring routes.
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