Danger on the Cirque du Jaffar

[diggermanbob]

My wife and i returned from an overland expedition in Morocco on sunday ,we had a fantastic time travelling in our landrover 110 ,we did some of chris scotts routes .The one which is very Dangerous is MH1 we travelled some 26k in to it from midelt on reaching a peak just before the large boulder he describes in his book ,we were confronted by a young man urging me not to go further ,I got out and walked along to where the boulder sits the track on the lower side is badly eroded and on looking down i could see that a 110 had tried to pass the boulder and ended up going over the side,it was wrecked at the bottom ,I dont know if the driver survived but if they did it would have been a miracle ,needless to say i slowly reversed until i found a space to turn and return to Midelt .Later in the day we spoke to some german bikers who said it was just passable on bike but No Chance in a 4x4 Bob

[Maximus]

Better to retreat and fight another day.....thanks for the heads up.

Hope the occupant/s of the defender was ok.

[Tim Cullis]

There's no question that at one stage the two massive rocks were effectively blocking the piste and there was no way past, however I passed the spot last week and the side of the piste have been built outwards and properly reinforced by supporting stones in the normal professional manner you see all over Morocco.

I took a series of photographs and mentally worked through approach angles and in my opinion it is now passable (slowly) by any normal sized 4x4. Additionally, there were vehicle tracks on both sides of the obstruction.

It's not at all narrow for bikes--you could easily get two bikes through side by side.

[diggermanbob]

Tim did you see the 110 down in the bottom of the ravine ? Im still not so sure that i would risk trying to go through in a loaded 110 landy , but i guess thats prob just me being cautious .Thanks for the reply Bob

[Patrik911]

See also this thread:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...e-jaffer-16316


The big boulder wasn't the problem for me, it was a bit further we did have some trouble, our right rear-wheel no longer touched the ground and hung over the edge. (We were lucky and managed to continue.)

[Tim Cullis]

I understand what you mean Patrick, I agree the state of the track further down the cirque is worse than the bit with the two rocks. This is what I wrote on another thread,

I checked all the barbed wire places (some six in total) and there was no sign of recent stringing across the trail. The cirque was something else with not much sign of recent traffic, and little sign of maintenance. I've done it seven times before, mostly going down into the cirque heading SW. I remember vividly the fun I had riding my XR400R up the cirque showing off to some Austrians on KTMs and I thought it would be interesting to take my fully loaded Tenere the same direction on the basis that stony slopes are often best tackled uphill rather than downhill.

This theory might hold normally but the cirque in places has a slope of maybe 20 degrees. And there's loads of places where debris comes over the track and increases the angle of slope to maybe 45-50 degrees. So it was 'challenging' in places. Then part of the track was washed out totally and whilst there was a clearly marked detour if coming down, the detour wasn't at all apparent going up and for a while I thought I would either have to face the bandits again or go the alternate route through the Gorge de Jaffar.

The two rocks partially blocking the trail are still there but the trail has been widened around them and I guess most 4WD traffic can get past.

[diggermanbob]

Glad you got through ok Patrik ,when did you do it Did you see the landy over the side Bob

[Booger]

Yep that is exactly the spot I was thinking about, we had no problems there in April 2010, although a few minutes later it got hectic (because I never spotted a detour...) you do need to be very careful on that route for sure, but for anyone who can get through, some of the most amazing scenery in the world awaits you..

To see us going by these rocks look at 5:47 in this video

YouTube - Leroy The Land Rover - Goes to Morocco - Part 1

Alternatively if you are bored you can watch all 7 parts of the vid..

and when I say hectic...

[diggermanbob]

Hi Booger I sure you and tim are both right i is possible to get past the rocks but as a solo traveller the risk outweighs the benefits .im sure the driver of the 110 didnt think it was worth it after he went over the edge !!! Nobody seems to mention ths am i the only one to have spotted it !! Tim has shown some good shots of the rocks but none of the stricken 110 , I have one but my son is telling me the file is to big even in zip to post !! any ideas ?? Bob

[Maximus]

Not sure about the large file.

I would not have tried that 'alone' in a 'fully laden' LR....even if the Mrs would let me. After all, 'she's on holiday.....right ?

[diggermanbob]

My point exactly !! If you are in a group and want to risk it then fine ,But as a trans atlas route it should be listed as Dangerous and not one that should be used unless you are aware of the dangers Hence my post in the first place !! I would think that most overlanders with there loved ones on board would think twice before trying it after all isnt overlanding for the fantastic vistas and experiences along with all those great memories you have ? And just for the record im not some old fuddy duddy that doesnt do danger ,having driven rally cars at int level in some of the fastests stages in the world ,and ridden race bikes ducatis at assen plus a lifetime offroading i still would not risk it

[Booger]

Maybe it should be listed as a route that should not be attempted with the wife I did get the impression from Chris Scotts book that that route would be interessting, I believe it said road building might be involved, and I would definately have chosen the easier route if I had had loved ones in the vehicle, but of course I was with the lads looking for an adventure.

Any picture can be shrunk to any size, maybe google how to reduce picture file sizes, because I'd really like to see that pic.

Loads of people have seen that 110 (although bizarrely there are no pics), read the thread referred to in Patrik's earlier post...

[diggermanbob]

Ile work on getting the pic loaded for you Booger and yes Patriks link would have been usefull to see before we tried it .The track was good fun until that point rough but ok Bob

[Patrik911]

Picture from the Landy

[Booger]

Thanks for posting that, pity about the tuft of grass in the way

That land rover looks like it was really nice, before it rolled down the mountain