Just wondering if anyone has any experience of the piste from Imilchil to Anergui (shown by red arrow on my map).

It looks like it takes an interesting route and will get me from Agoudal to Ouzoud, but with it being a bit high up, might it be a bit rough?

Cheers Dave

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That looks like the one which leaves from near an Army post in Imilchil. I've tried it and it disappeared.

There's another piste heading to Anergui from Bousmou (to the south of Imilchil) at N32 06.211 W5 31.512. It reaches well over 3,000 metres and is the second highest piste I've been on in Morocco. A couple of years ago the western end was cut not far from Anergui, don't know what the current condition is.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Hi Dave,

Just had a look on OSM and it follows the river WSW from Imilchil until the river enters a gorge after 10km or so. Then it appears to fizzle out.

Tim, yours is shown as piste but with a tantalising gap (there shown as a path with steep contours and lots of zigzags) about 8km south of Anergui.

Happy trails all,

Peter

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Looking at it on Google Earth, I can see the first idea seems to disappear as stated. Looking at the second route there is certainly a track of some sorts there.

I have seen the section Peter talks of which rises up to the high plains from the river bed. That could be a challenge! I can see the shadow of a couple of bikes on the piste too, so I might give it a go, it will certainly cut a corner off my journey, and I'd really like to have a go at a really high level route.

The mid section of the piste looks very barren with very few signs of life! could be exciting!

Make sure you let us know if theres a piste all the way through

You can see some photos and a write-up of the Bouzmou track on post #21 at Six weeks in May/June 2012

I didn't complete the write-up of that trip. That evening we approached Anergui on tarmac then the next day headed south along the river to try to find the other end of the track. There track on Olaf didn't make sense and we didn't bother looking too hard.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

A useful bit of info there. Sounds quite heavy going in places, but I'll be taking it on close to the end of my trip and hopefully I'll be a little more skilled at the rough stuff

I will certainly do some asking around as I head down the piste to see if I it has been opened too.

A mate just pointed me to this. Not sure it's the exact track being referred to, but correlates with Tim's Bouzmou wpt. (Knowledgebase no more, Tim?).
Looks like a little Zook fourbie managed a traverse last year, although it crossed higher up the Anergui valley (dodging the village) on the way to the paved descent to Cathedral cliff track. Red X = Anergui)

https://es.wikiloc.com/rutas-todo-te...rane-139788571

Pics and write-up suggests it's not that hard, just high and steep at times.
Not scrutinized it closely on GE yet, but the tracklog lines up with tracks on OSM, fwtw.

We're going to check out another way into the Anergui valley, to the north of the junction with the above route, near a mast at the 2630-m high point.
Could be interesting but final descent might end up easier in snow with skis because we're not these guys ;-).
Won't be any hardship to backtrack for the Assif Melloul gorge into Anergui, or even try this route, if fuel/time allows.


Feb '24
We decided to try this once I realised the Google image below - just 5km from the riverbed south of the village - was a digger and not something else. Assuming image was a year or two old, progress might have been made.


Turns out a track has indeed been hacked out all the way, but has yet to be graded and gets rough from this point and further down. Might have been a struggle to ascend on a moto. Forbies will crawl through either way.
The final few kms to the bridge were blocked still being worked on, but nearby an old track drops down to the river where a few shallow fords see it join the near-complete new track by the bridge.

Another amazing route capped off by a stay at the lovely Assif Melloul gite a km from the bridge.

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Its a great track Chris, drove it again in the autumn, there is some improvement work on it at the moment.

Heading west theres a very very steep loose stone descent which will be lethal in bad or wet conditions, in the oued at the bottom the track is washed away but passable in the landcruiser just, a bike should be ok.

When i was given details for it in 2018 I was advised never to do it if it had rained or there was bad weather forecast.

I took morocco-knowledgebase down a year or so back, the fees for running the forum software were not worth it. When I have time I will repost everything on a simple website.

The first image below shows the 'x1' waypoints I took in my March 2006 A Piste Too Far trip from the Cathedral to Anergui.

The second image shows trying to approach Anergui from Bouzmou in June 2012 with my son-in-law. We slept out at 'Bivi Alfie'. On the second day, just after another track left heading south at the waypoint 'ok here east' I started to get a bad feeling and for once listened to myself and we turned back.

In early 2013 I tried finding the track from the other end and traced it as far as 'ok here west' but then all traces disappeared up an impossibly steep slope (almost a cliff). The piste at that stage carried on south, and I now wonder whether the OSM map indicates the track from Bouzmou meeting further south.

Image three is the same as image two but with OSM rather than Olaf.


Bivi Alfie campsite

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__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

We did this track today. 6 hrs from Ouaouazaght to N12.
Prado ate it up; we even saw a lone AT (only other moving vehicle) just before the rough ascent from the oued (N31.97859° W5.86689°) and which currently appears mostly used by sheep.
I bet AT guy was relieved to have rolled down it, not try and ride up (eastbound, like us).
Apart from that section, a car / short van with clearance could manage.
May well get fixed as they are working on it (as said) and have widened in the west.
Add the new southern approach into Anergui via the river (see above) and these links open up this remote area. Gets a bit bleak in the east as it rises up to 2900m.

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Hi Criss,
Thanks for your imfo , It looks stunning there ! on my list !! Keith