Afroeurasia Hikes

  Draa River (Morocco) 100.2 kms Day 1: The Draa River Oasis 22.9 kms, December 7, 2010 Now the Traveler was anticipating great views of vast palm tree forests, but still the sight is quite stunning. And in the background is one of the coolest mountains he's ever seen: with wavelike slopes like a Chinese roof and sandwiched colourful layers, it reminds him of a pagoda. He quickly scurry across town to the otherside of a hill where he can climb and get a nice panoramic view. As you gaze down to the forest, you can almost forget that you’re in the Sahara desert—it looks more like a palm jungle in Malaysia! But then you look off to the horizon and see red earth castles scattered about, rising up above the tree line and you know this can be no other place than Morocco. He's clearly going to want to take his time exploring this region. The “oasis” he explored upstream west of Ouarzazate was a lifeless wasteland compared to this! This is going to be an a...

  Ouarzazate (Morocco) 116.3 kms Day 1: 30.3 kms, Dec 6, 2010 Normally deserts are the least appealing regions for long distance climbing. Trudging day after day through a bleak, sun-scorched landscape is not something that particularly appeals to the Traveler. So when he reaches the eastern side of the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and the great Sahara Desert begins, he figures he'll just do a quick walkaround and say “OK I saw it...” and head right up to the mountains again. But looking closer at the map, he discovers something fascinating. Long stretches where there is village after village after village—right through the middle of the desert. No... not just isolate oases... there is clearly a continuous finger of civilization stretching far out into the Sahara. The Traveler looks into this. This is the Draa River, which flows east into the Sahara, creating a swath of green all along the way... what appears to be a river oasis that goes on for hundreds o...