Some sloppy reporting in these articles. We had flooding between Merzouga and Zagora September ‘23 and in Erg Chegaga in October.

Talking to some locals at Iriki last week they said the last time it was full of water was 2004

I am currently in southern Marocco travelling around with a Defender:
(the routes I am referring to are from Morocco Overland version 1)

-Tizi-n-Test Marrakech-Taliouine:
Still a lot of work on the road, totally maybe 1 hr delay. A lot of people still living in tents a year after the earthquake.

-From Taliouine to the south via Assarakh and Aguinan:
Beautiful route. Camped at auberge Le Paradis. Continued southwest the next day via the MA6 (paved) and MA9. MA9 is paved till Targuante. From Targuante till the RN17 at Akka Iguirene the piste is washed away at several places and even became single track (made by motorbikes). So impossible for anything bigger than a Defender. 7 km before Akka Iguirene they were working on the track. They had started from the southwest so from there a good piste again.

-Icht-MA2-Tafraoute:
Lot of damage to the road but all passable. In Igmir a lot of damage from the river which runs through it.

-From Tafraoute to Tata:
Tizerkine gorge impassable due to a washed away bridge they are rapairing
Gorge Ait Mansour no problems. After Ait Mansour we turned northeast for 2 km and picked up the road via the Akka mine and Bouzarif to the northeast towards the RN7 just west of Imtek. Big gravelroad used by trucks to the goldmine.

-Foum-Zguid -MS7-Mhamid:
No problems, ok for any vehicle, some mud in places due to some rain the night before. You can drive straight to the shore of Lac Iriki. There's already some fish living in the lake according locals!
The northeastern part of Erg Chegaga is full of luxury camps. The dunes at the northwestern side (east of Lac Iriki) are much quieter. From the Auberges/cafes south of Zaouia Sidi Abde Enabi you can drie straight south to find a nice spot in the dunes for camping away from the big camps.

Thanks for the update Jurgen.
Igmir is certainly a tight bottleneck in the Smouguene canyon which got it the worst.
Image below from a news video.

We re-did both gorges last year and Ait Mansour is actually the prettier one.
The Akka piste is a great blast. I presume they fixed the big oued crossing just before your reach the road. In much less rain early 2023 the track across was obliterated, though a Defender might have managed.

Sounds like Iriki is drying out already. Got a picture?

hi Chriss,
I don't remember a big oued crossing on the Akka mine piste, so I think this has been fixed. Lac Iriki has not dried out yet and is still quite big: (trying to post a picture...)

https://transmoroccotrail.org/wp-con...4/10/iriki.jpg

Thanks, I managed to open your huge pdf which had my computer smoking from the vents - and converted it. Nice shot.

Tazzerine to Sidi Ali now open to all vehicles.
Lac Maider still extensively flooded but long detour south of lake to Sidi Ali passing Marathon Des Sables station. (Not the actual MDS, but loads of tents, support vehicles and kit from MDS)
Oued Rheris and Mharech still not possible.

MS6 Tagounite-Merzouga:
Started 2 days ago and did 2 nights of wildcamping.
Nothing special until before Tafraout because of water in Lake Maider south of Tafraout as mentioned above. From Kasbah Marabout there is a track to the southeast which goes around the flooded ara of Lake Maider to Tafraout. We were unsure if we could follow the normal track from Tafraout to Remlia but we met some Spanish guys who came from Merzouga in the opposite direction who gave me their track: from Tafraout northwest, cross the oued el Ma'der and then follow the riverbank till Foum Mharech where we are now. The flood has been inside the walls of the Auberge. The owner repaired the last part of the road through the river to reach the auberge/campsite. Tomorrow we wil try to cross the river to the south side to continue via Remlia

Thanks for update.
In March we crossed the Rheris at 30.8987, -4.4817 - same point as on the Spanish track you attached. (Us only to try new routes, not due to floods).
The river channel is very narrow there.
Looks like Spanish had few probs getting there judging by the tracklog (we ploughed directly thru the small dunes ESE for 500m). Then like us, they took a diversion S to Lost City - well worth it.
From City you can easily carry on S to Remlia and follow MS6 E to Merzouga.
Or follow their track which looks fun.

Looks like Spanish had quite a bit of wiggling west of Mharech.

We crossed Oued Rheris today about 8km N of Remlia. Very twisty but doable in a heavy 4x4. Oued Mharech was also just possible with a quick dash across the sludge n front of the auberge.
Lac Maider is still magnificently flooded.
Going back tomorrow round the back of the Ouzina dunes. The tar road from Merzouga & Taouz now extended to the Ouzina auberges. Loads of new ones being built. This may be the last time I visit Merzouga…

Jurgen, we started our crossing to the east of the two radio masts.

Thanks Chris and Peter for the advise.
The Spanish actually had their night-camp just southwest of Mharech, that’s why their track is wiggling… :)

Back with my truck now.
We went in at 30.745867 N, 4.504221 W and came out at 30.732364 N, 4.433865 W, which is 5.4km N of Remlia on the eastern shore piste.
Multiple vehicles, so you’ll find our tracks easily.

Going back same way tomorrow once we’ve finished fettling vehicles.

We were lucky yesterday. The friendly owner of El Mharech was going to visit family in Merzouga. He took us to just south of the lost city. Nice piste throughy the rivers and small dunes. From there we could continue south to Remlia, get the eggtajine with coke and follow MS6 to Merzouga.
12 years ago that I did the MS6 and I still like it but it has changed quite a lot:
Much more farms in the western part because of solarpumps, much more tourist traffic with big groups of cars and buggys and many more hotels in the direction of Merzouga. But we still like this part of Morocco. :)
This is the track El Mharech - Remlia

Lake Iriki / Mhamid to Foum Zguid
 

Hi everyone!

Given the heavy rains in last Oct24 down South, I was wondering what is the current state of Lake Iriki, is it still flooded? Or not flooded but still muddy?

I was planning to tackle the piste between Mhamid and Foum Zguid by 4x4 in 3 weeks, is S2 trail from M4 book doable these days?

Thanks for your updates

Still flooded. S2 should be ok but watch out for soft patches as it turns SW across Iriki.

Was there last week - it's bone dry the whole way between Merzouga and Foum Zguid

Fresh reports today - Iriki still flooded and tracks from the north across the Lac still impassable or very difficult.

Further east the Oued Rheris crossing is still wet and muddy with eager locals charging 2000dH for recovery

Nonsense. See here. Note dates.

See here posted 21hrs ago https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=...43108203991666 dohdoh

Of course your talking about a different route than the one Vincent asked about.

Weather forecast ( possibly generalised...)
 

Soooooo we can expect dry-aza-bone to totally flodded via slightly moist with some larger puddles but only for vehicles with amphibian capabilities...:biggrin: Good to go!

May I recommend VENTUSKY?
Available on PC and Android- no idea about iphones
I have found it to be particularly accurate (no connection- just end user)
Happy days in Maroc! :Beach:

p.s or you could also try MeteoBlue
Looks like the UK boys are going to get wet...

RN7 Tizi n Test and RN17 Tissint
 

The Test RN7 road south of Marrakech is slower than ever.
Now dug up and with long waits to clear rubble for contraflows all the way from Ouirgane to Ijoukak.

Just west of Tissint roundabout they're building a fuel station by the junction where the road comes up from Tanzida to join the N17 border highway: 29.9085, -7.3259.
Good to know if coming off Route A5 from Tazenakht (see M4 Updates for more).
The next fuel stations are 70km either way at Foum Zguid or Tata, though there must be village fuel in Tissint.

Lake Iriki: on a Toyota Hilux, we got stuck for one hour in the mud on sunday.

We tried to follow an osm track (with the stars below), after digging we eventually u-turned and followed the tracks closer to the mountain up North to join Foum Zguid (end of S1 in Morocco overland)https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...4c02396333.jpg

Envoyé de mon SM-X115 en utilisant Tapatalk

From what I have seen last week: streams in the desert where there were none in November – I get the feeling September flood water is still working it's way down through the water table and emerging in the desert. Hence Iriki wet (or maybe never dried).
Too soon/cold for melting snow, and not that much of it on the south-facing mountains anyway.
Desert is greener than I've seen in years. Hillsides north of Foum Zguid covered in purple flowers and 100s of beehives ready and waiting.

The Sandy plains between Msied and Labourirat may be worth a visit if anyone is in the area.
Best desert flower landscapes to be seen if the timing is right.:mchappy:

Took the same photo

I did what was MS7/MS77, Thursday, all good I did meet a defender that had got stuck going further south towards Lake Iriki.

The desert is blooming!

Imitek - Gold Mine - Ait Mansour: W4 in Morocco Overland

Piste was very easy to do last week, only 42 km offroad, doable in any vehicle.

Big works currently ongoing there to build a road.

Wikiloc here: https://fr.wikiloc.com/itineraires-t...icht-201194934

https://edftrading-my.sharepoint.com...MYZ-A?e=Y7v2a2

Following the heavy rains last fall, it looks like the piste running in the canyon / oued (W5 & MA1 in Morocco Overland) between "Fort Izerkine" and "Tiouadou" is currently not doable.

Not surprised to hear that.
That area near Tata got hit very hard.
Nearby Aoukerda village was wrecked.
Thanks for the update.

FYI: people are still getting stuck on Iriki which seems to be refilling, presumably heading out onto firm-looking crust which is giving way.
Pic: J. Magoni

https://scontent.fcmn3-2.fna.fbcdn.n...hQ&oe=67BC27D5

Assa to Tan-Tan via via the Jebel Ouarkaziz (F1 in Morocco Overland) was a fun and beautiful piste.

Didn’t see a single human on or near the track during the 170 kms I was following it.

Overnight stop in the little oued South of Amot was worth it.

I took a rockier path through djebel Ouarkaziz before reaching Amot (coming from East) which requires good ground clearance

Wikiloc here:https://fr.wikiloc.com/itineraires-t...eied-201540831
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e4495fc6a1.jpg

Envoyé de mon SM-X115 en utilisant Tapatalk

R Nekob > Tagounite 146km
 

R Nekob > Tagounite 146km from TMT, completed today in a 4x4 medium wheel base Sprinter, still rough from flood damage.

Wouldn't suggest for vehicles larger than a Sprinter as some flood damage on shelf roads makes it very narrow.

Good going Kong. That one can be rough, even at the best of times.
I trust the Sprinter got a good work out.
Don't get mired on S if going that way.

It certainly is rough, spent a fortune on suspension, so good to see that it’s up to the task.

Already done Lake Iriki, I’m a bit all over the place, didn’t even know about the TMT or book 4 till I got down here, on my third year of trying to complete book 3!