There are hard packed areas and there are soft areas. I can imagine the cars would have done OK, but bikers on heavy Bavarian tractors with "minimal off road experience" and zero sand experience would find it a nightmare.

I am reminded of the three Portuguese riders who got into trouble near Erg Chebbi. One guy went for help and when he returned the other two, who were brothers, were dead. That was June.

Any soft bits could be ridden around on the smooth hard packed bits. Then there’s one soft Oued before the Sacred Oasis. From there you can carry on to lac Iriki and Foum Zguid avoiding any sand.

It was 41 when we were there and the overnight rain caused some mud closer to Mhamid for the rally the next day

Job done
 

Thanks for the advice.
After riding the R704 from north to south, to Boumaine Dades, N'kob and Agdz for the night, we headed west to the coast and found some more amazing roads.
What a trip.
Biking heaven.

52C on ext temp gauge here a couple of days ago. Whatever the real temperature was, it was HOT!!! Glad I was driving not riding.

We drove Mhamid to FZ today. Not done this since the last millennium in a 60 series boneshaker along the corrugated/stony northernmost track and was put off forever. Never actually ridden it.
Today, just followed our noses out of Mhamid in an auto TX; a deep-sand roller-coaster for a few km with the added risk of meeting others belting in from the camps. Even in a car there are places you'd not want to stop and try and start again.

That was my conclusion. Must be something less testing to the north? but if there is a sand-free way out of Mh, I'd be interested in seeing a tracklog.

We turned south at the Oasis then skirted the Erg's north edge along miles of soft sand ruts to Iriki. Driven this before but would't fancy riding that on a travel bike, either.
But from there we went diagonally SW across the lake (a track on OSM/free Gaia) which, even in poor viz, was great fun, threading past isolated dunes. Came in at the Control (fort, no one in) carried on west via Dakar mounds and loads of other signs/mileposts etc, then turned north via Nsour Pass (Control; pic below) which I recognise from Tim's video 4 thumbnail. All up a great route and just about the smoothest way to link FZ with Mh in a car. Who knew! Loads more enjoyable than Kem Kem to Tagounite, for example (looking forward to not doing that for another 25 years).

For 'MS7' and variants – now called S2 in the new book – westbound on a regular travel bike up to GS12 etc, I'd come in/exit via the Tagounite/Jebel Bani gap and sit it out to the north until you can cut across to the Rimal cafe on the Lac (on Google Maps), then ride as above, going low, across then up to FZ for an OJ at Ibrahim's.

Hi Chris,

To avoid the all the small dunes W of Mhamid, there's a piste a few km north of town. Begins at N29°53.6 W5° 37.2. on a bend on the N9. It heads generally W for 30km before joining the rough hamada pistes from Mhamid. I'll dig out the track log.

Back out next week.

Happy trails,

Peter

Thanks Peter. I see it on the OSM Topo, about 16km before Mhamid.
.gpx copied off the map but remaned 'Not dune free...'
Good to know.

Pretty much it. Looks like there’s a NW piste out of Mhamid centre that intersects.

Not really. A [light moto] mate tried this the other day, taking the high trail (from hell) from FZ then splitting off east of O. Sacree.

Sounds the same as regular Mhamid exit/entry then.
And was probably quite warm too.
There may be something firmer further north, he said.

we hit 37 degrees coming out of Chegaga yesterday, but only for about 30 minutes and it dropeed back to 33.

Didn't see any water crossing Iriki but the rain and mud of the last 6 months have dried out to lot and lots of fine dust both on Iriki and the last few km into M'Hamid. Plenty of plants and flowers as well.

Take the standard entry point at Mhamid. There are two small sandy dunes. Cross them and immediately take the track that runs NW. It’s sandy, but dune free and easy going. Continue on this heading for a few km and then switch to WSW until you hit the hamada (the least corrugated tracks are to the north of the plain) and the rocky piste W towards O Sacree. Cross the dry river bed by the well and push on past the nomad dwellings and you’re there.

Considering it’s only March and there’s been rain, the sand is unusually dry, especially the Chegaga run. The Ouzina dunes have loads of soft patches to catch out the unwary.