Hiking the edge of the Sahara Desert

If you look at a map of Morocco, the hike I went on is South of the town of Zagora on the border of Morocco and Algeria. To get there, we (10 other hikers, myself, our guide Mohammed and our cook Brahim) spent the first day vans first driving over the High Atlas.

Looking north towards the High Atlas Mountains.

The first of four days hiking had us walking through the town of Ouled Driss.

Looking back on the town of Ouled Driss. Most of the hiking was pretty boring and the same sandy, dusty flat scenery with the occasional dust storm. I've included only the pretty parts.

The best scenery occurred in the dunes, but that was also the toughest hiking. Soft sand is tough because for every step up you make, you drop back about 2/3 of the distance you advanced. The best way to get up was to sprint.

Everywhere we walked there were fossil remnants that reminded us that this all used to be underwater.

Every so often we would walk by a random building in the middle of the desert.

The greatest part of the hike was the sky.

Each evening after the days hike, I would just get this amazing sense of peace and happiness looking at the sky. I got this feeling of being proud of my life and being in that place at that time. I didn't want to be anywhere else.

My tent in the foreground. You'll see that I actually slept under the stars each night to the amazement of my fellow hikers. By the end, Mohammed and I compromised that I would be required to put up my tent, but not the rain tarp to sleep outside.

The bathroom tent.

The highlight of the second day was climbing to the top of the Zahar dune seen here in the distance.

The view from the top of the Zahar dune around sunset.

From left, Graham (a British Inspector/Cop), Emily (a British lawyer) and Jane (British as well)

You can see how far down into the sand my legs sink.....walking up the dunes was a challenge.

Even in the desert...

Tea Time!! The Moroccan mint tea was a favorite of mine. From left, Ruth (a British teacher), John (a Norwegian/Canadian shipbuilder), Jane, Philip and Grace (a married couple from Britain), Joanna (an Australian civil engineer) and Dave (a Coloradan teaching English in Spain)

Myself with Brahim, our cook.

To bake bread in the desert, you make the dough and put it into the hot sand.

Cover it with more hot sand and twenty minutes later.....fresh bread.

The last two days we spent walking in the dry Draa river bed or along side it. The Draa is the longest river in Morocco but is dammed and water is only released twice a year.

New Year's Eve 2009 and a full moon in the Sahara Desert. I couldn't ask for a more satisfying place to ring in the new year and decade.