After 2 nights wild camping outside of Todra Gorge, we took on the highest mountain pass for us yet in Morocco. From here we are headed up to over 9,500 ft in elevation on a single track dirt road in the High Atlas Mountains through the Amazigh village of Agoudal before coming down thru Dadés Gorge.
Here is the start of Route 704.
R704 is the route that connects Todra Gorge to Dades Gorge. Sure, there is a paved way to get there but we chose to take the more scenic and memorable route there.
We weren’t really sure what to expect on this drive. Sure lots of dirt.
And sheep with their shepherds are always around even if it feels like you are in the middle of nowhere. Newsflash: You are in the middle of somewhere.
We didn’t expect to see anything but dirt during our two day trek through the High Atlas Mountains but then out of nowhere, a small building appeared.
We giggled when we saw this place appear. It sort of reminded us “Coco’s Corner” in Baja, Mexico but instead of panties on the wall there are rugs and instead of cold beer there’s warm tea.
We are here at Aberge La Grotte.
Enjoying delicious tea and snacks. Pinkies up!
Dan.
Me.
Little details.
Said the owner. How much did the tea and snacks cost? The owner said it was whatever we wanted to pay.
Not only did we fill ourselves with delicious tea but with warm smiles and great conversations with a few local men. This is why we don’t over plan or over research our next destination. It allows us to have these unexpected magical moments that create memories for a lifetime.
Before we left, the girls and I were gifted with rose rings. Ava picked blue, Mila picked peach and Luka chose hot pink for me.
Then we continued our drive down the dirt road.
Reaching the highest part of the drive today.
Love the lines of the landscape here. Reminds me of a topography map.
Slow driving but the half from Todra to the highest peak wasn’t so bad. Well, I should say it’s not bad while the weather is cooperating. I would NOT do this route in the rain or snow or mud. There are no guard rails here. Most of it is single track. There are some crazy switch backs as well that required three point turns. Be smart.
We ended up parking just a little ways down the road from the highest peak of the route. We were shortly joined by our friends Alex and Verena in their 2 wheel drive Sprinter.
Climbing up the mountain for a photo.
Dan and I kept climbing up alone. Didn’t get much farther with the thin air, steep climb and pokey plants.
Our spot for the night. Actually had cell reception up here.
The next day we tackled the second half of the drive from our overnight spot near the highest part of R704 towards Dades Gorge. This was the hairier part of the drive. Some switchbacks took some reversing with our 170 wheel base Sprinter van.
You don’t need a 4×4 to explore Morocco but some decent tires and common sense couldn’t hurt. We traversed a single-track dirt road with friends in a standard 2-wheel drive van with no issues. If the forecast called for rain, we would’ve both skipped this road but the sun was shining so we gave it a go. We didn’t even shift our van into 4-wheel drive once. Um, actually that’s a lie. We did go into 4×4 low range to level our van on some rocks last night. ?
Pretty village built with the purple landscape.
Part of the switchbacks.
Still can’t over the landscape lines.
Passed a few other vehicles during our two day journey.
Switchback portion on our GPS.
Stopped to enjoy the scenery.
And done. Exhale. I will share Dades Gorge in the next post.
Here is part 1 of our drive from Dan’s perspective 🙂
Thanks for following along,
Marlene
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