On the Trail in Morocco: 310GS / CRF300L
On the Trail in Morocco: 310GS / CRF300L
After a couple of spring fly & rides I decide to carry on and log some new tracks. We tried this in a4×4 Duster in February but that was a wash-out due to the previous week’s bad weather. Now in April, Ramadan was not proving a problem so, depending on energy levels and the heat, I’d try and pack another six days in.
There’s weeks of riding to do; I’m just concentrating on the blue area left (western High Atlas) and maybe the purple area (Jebel Saro).
It rained in February and water’s still streaming from the hillsides.
High Atlas village.
.
I ride out of Ijoukak along my regular tour route.
Sigh, another day on a 310GS but wishing it was a 300L. Soon it will be.
Up at the 8400′ watershed it’s balmy.
I’m heading for Toubkal, but not along this road near Igli. I’ll take a much longer track through the hills.
I can’t resist nipping down to the Assif Tifnoute river.
Crossing this to make a fun short cut has been a fixation of mine for years. As you can see the concrete ford got washed out long ago.
Here’s a map I drew in 2021 when I was here on the Africa Twin.
‘Crossing exists?’ is the washed-out ford and to which the answer is: ‘not really’.
An alternative crossing developed just downstream. We were on that far bank a few weeks ago in the Duster, but a new flood-carved bank on this side is now a few feet high.
Slithering down it to the river bed, the crossing could be done, but today it’s too hot to try on a podgy 310 as I’ll not be able to get back up.
That done, I head back north up a parallel valley, following a new route.
Anywhere the mountainous terrain permitted a bit of cultivation (good soil; water), a village developed.
I suspect this all happened around the Arab invasion in the late 7th century when the Berbers fled to the hills. Before that there were much easier places to farm.
Soon the bedrock turns to granite; granite sand is nice stuff to ride; the hard angular quartz grains lock up to make good grip compared to rounded sandstone grains. Well, that’s my theory.
A hot backwind blows up the valley; I’m wilting and the fan is humming. I barely ride 10 minutes without a jotting stop.
Result! I reach the three-way junction …
… I located with the group a week ago, but from another direction.
Chummy chappy in the Taouyalte village shop; I buy bread, tuna and a litre of sugar-saturated orange liquide.
They say it’s bad form for tourists to eat conspicuously during Ramadan daytime, but there’s no one around.
They’re all at home siesting till dusk.
I continue northward, higher up into the arid hills.
A green splash of barley terracing.
I hop off to water some parched, high-altitude shrubs.
A steep 700-m descent back down to the Toubkal road.
Near the bottom I find a shady glade for a bit of a break.
Soon I rejoin the road. Left is less than 20km back to Igli, but I’ve had a great dirt ride taking the long way round.
It’s 3pm in Amsouzart and I am shagged out; that’s me done for the day.
I get stuck into my homework over a couple of nous-nous (‘half-half’, my new favorite coffee) and a selection of sugary snacks…
Next day I need fuel if I’m to head back into the hills. The nearest station is Aguim, 50km, on the Marrakech road
Turn off to Anezal? Interesting…
Classic High Atlas vistas.
Backtracking from Agium with another 300km in the tank, I reach Three Mast Pass and the old MH8 track.
Distances to probably Taouyalte and Askaoun. I can manage that.
Soon I reach a junction where I want to link to a route we tried in the Duster.
You’ve heard of the Love Shack, well this is the Love Trough, same thing but for sheep.
Adventure motorcycling? No, just nipping over to see his gran.
Ait Qalla below where the road resumes.
Same-ish spot in February where we got snowed back around 2200m and were unsure if worse lay ahead.
Lonesome cairn.
Back at the junction, I turn south into the lush ‘Limestone Basin’ I recall from 2008.
The only place you’ll see proper grass like this in Morocco is well above 2000 metres or on an oligarch’s helipad.
I reach the col, now back again on granite sands.
In Askaoun I nip into the village shop for some yummy flatbreads and eggs for a tankbag picnic.
The once gnarly MH5 track around the top of Jebel Sirwa is now a wide haul road.
Thank the new silver mine, nearby.
My Mosko Surveyor jacket staves off the sub-Alpine chill.
Great views from up here down to the Ouarzazate basin.
Looking back towards Toubkal.
The track has been rerouted down behind Amassine village where I close the loop on the Ait Qalla road.
Slow flat on the front but no nail. Bent rim? Had that on the tour the other week. Odd.
Pizza in the Bab Sahara in Tazenakht. Spent many happy nights with the lovely folks here.
Lovely scent off this orange tree in the evenings. Oh to be an insect!
Ominous donkey below the ‘Timouka’ Pass – actually Tizi Haround 1830m.
I find another obscure ascent over the Timouka escarpment that proves to be in good shape.
Over the top and round the back I pin down a key junction.
I’d love to carry on but need to return home early. I build a cairn above the pass.
Back down in Taliouine, Hamid sourced me some nutty, extra virgin argan oil at 40 quid a litre!
The chilled EVOO comes free.
The amazing climb up to the Tizi n Test; just right on a 310GS or similar.
On the north side of the Test, following the February rains this river…
… filled up this near empty reservoir in a matter of weeks. That’s Marrakech set up for the summer.
I drop off the 310 and head for the airport.
Can’t wait to get back on the 300L and carry on exploring, but it’ll be too hot by the time I can get there.
I’ll have to wait till October.
There’s weeks of riding to do; I’m just concentrating on the blue area left (western High Atlas) and maybe the purple area (Jebel Saro).
It rained in February and water’s still streaming from the hillsides.
High Atlas village.
.
I ride out of Ijoukak along my regular tour route.
Sigh, another day on a 310GS but wishing it was a 300L. Soon it will be.
Up at the 8400′ watershed it’s balmy.
I’m heading for Toubkal, but not along this road near Igli. I’ll take a much longer track through the hills.
I can’t resist nipping down to the Assif Tifnoute river.
Crossing this to make a fun short cut has been a fixation of mine for years. As you can see the concrete ford got washed out long ago.
Here’s a map I drew in 2021 when I was here on the Africa Twin.
‘Crossing exists?’ is the washed-out ford and to which the answer is: ‘not really’.
An alternative crossing developed just downstream. We were on that far bank a few weeks ago in the Duster, but a new flood-carved bank on this side is now a few feet high.
Slithering down it to the river bed, the crossing could be done, but today it’s too hot to try on a podgy 310 as I’ll not be able to get back up.
That done, I head back north up a parallel valley, following a new route.
Anywhere the mountainous terrain permitted a bit of cultivation (good soil; water), a village developed.
I suspect this all happened around the Arab invasion in the late 7th century when the Berbers fled to the hills. Before that there were much easier places to farm.
Soon the bedrock turns to granite; granite sand is nice stuff to ride; the hard angular quartz grains lock up to make good grip compared to rounded sandstone grains. Well, that’s my theory.
A hot backwind blows up the valley; I’m wilting and the fan is humming. I barely ride 10 minutes without a jotting stop.
Result! I reach the three-way junction …
… I located with the group a week ago, but from another direction.
Chummy chappy in the Taouyalte village shop; I buy bread, tuna and a litre of sugar-saturated orange liquide.
They say it’s bad form for tourists to eat conspicuously during Ramadan daytime, but there’s no one around.
They’re all at home siesting till dusk.
I continue northward, higher up into the arid hills.
A green splash of barley terracing.
I hop off to water some parched, high-altitude shrubs.
A steep 700-m descent back down to the Toubkal road.
Near the bottom I find a shady glade for a bit of a break.
Soon I rejoin the road. Left is less than 20km back to Igli, but I’ve had a great dirt ride taking the long way round.
It’s 3pm in Amsouzart and I am shagged out; that’s me done for the day.
I get stuck into my homework over a couple of nous-nous (‘half-half’, my new favorite coffee) and a selection of sugary snacks…
Next day I need fuel if I’m to head back into the hills. The nearest station is Aguim, 50km, on the Marrakech road
Turn off to Anezal? Interesting…
Classic High Atlas vistas.
Backtracking from Agium with another 300km in the tank, I reach Three Mast Pass and the old MH8 track.
Distances to probably Taouyalte and Askaoun. I can manage that.
Soon I reach a junction where I want to link to a route we tried in the Duster.
You’ve heard of the Love Shack, well this is the Love Trough, same thing but for sheep.
Adventure motorcycling? No, just nipping over to see his gran.
Ait Qalla below where the road resumes.
Same-ish spot in February where we got snowed back around 2200m and were unsure if worse lay ahead.
Lonesome cairn.
Back at the junction, I turn south into the lush ‘Limestone Basin’ I recall from 2008.
The only place you’ll see proper grass like this in Morocco is well above 2000 metres or on an oligarch’s helipad.
I reach the col, now back again on granite sands.
In Askaoun I nip into the village shop for some yummy flatbreads and eggs for a tankbag picnic.
The once gnarly MH5 track around the top of Jebel Sirwa is now a wide haul road.
Thank the new silver mine, nearby.
My Mosko Surveyor jacket staves off the sub-Alpine chill.
Great views from up here down to the Ouarzazate basin.
Looking back towards Toubkal.
The track has been rerouted down behind Amassine village where I close the loop on the Ait Qalla road.
Slow flat on the front but no nail. Bent rim? Had that on the tour the other week. Odd.
Pizza in the Bab Sahara in Tazenakht. Spent many happy nights with the lovely folks here.
Lovely scent off this orange tree in the evenings. Oh to be an insect!
Ominous donkey below the ‘Timouka’ Pass – actually Tizi Haround 1830m.
I find another obscure ascent over the Timouka escarpment that proves to be in good shape.
Over the top and round the back I pin down a key junction.
I’d love to carry on but need to return home early. I build a cairn above the pass.
Back down in Taliouine, Hamid sourced me some nutty, extra virgin argan oil at 40 quid a litre!
The chilled EVOO comes free.
The amazing climb up to the Tizi n Test; just right on a 310GS or similar.
On the north side of the Test, following the February rains this river…
… filled up this near empty reservoir in a matter of weeks. That’s Marrakech set up for the summer.
I drop off the 310 and head for the airport.
Can’t wait to get back on the 300L and carry on exploring, but it’ll be too hot by the time I can get there.
I’ll have to wait till October.
Last edited by Chris S on Wed Dec 20, 2023 5:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: On the trail in Morocco (310GS)
Good one...Morocco has transformed itself into a prosperous Mediterranean country compared to how it was in the 1990s .
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Re: On the trail in Morocco (310GS)
Nice one . Excellent photos and write up, I enjoyed reading that .
Suzuki GSX-S1000F...the KTM 450 EXC-R has gone
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Re: On the trail in Morocco (310GS)
Excellent work, thank you for sharing,
How was the 310?
How was the 310?
And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.
Suzuki DR200 Djebel.
Suzuki DR200 Djebel.
Re: On the trail in Morocco (310GS)
Great in the canyons; OK on the piste.
Some have got up to 60,000 rental kms now.
https://adventure-motorcycling.com/2019 ... n-morocco/
Would be great to see a 21/17 trail bike version but I suppose that would muddy the GS branding
Some have got up to 60,000 rental kms now.
https://adventure-motorcycling.com/2019 ... n-morocco/
Would be great to see a 21/17 trail bike version but I suppose that would muddy the GS branding
Re: On the Trail in Morocco: 310GS / CRF300L
Me again.
Took a 300L to Morocco in October and left it there till next spring.
I see the new TRF mag has a comparison with the 300 and 310GS which I know well.
Will have a read of that later.
For the moment here are some pics of the last few months.
This is how my bike was set up.
After getting it trucked to Malaga with Fly&Ride, I nip back to the Hotel Sahara in Asilah.
I blast down to RAK in a day on the autoroute.
I rushed the job of sealing my 17/19 wheel combo and rolled into Marrakech with a depressurised front.
Simplest thing was to clean the crap off and bung a tube in.
Won't be adding preventative Slime again; if you do a good job should not be needed.
The rear lost a few pounds a day so I topped it up daily with this handy USB pump.
With the bike back in shape I head for the hills.
Took a 300L to Morocco in October and left it there till next spring.
I see the new TRF mag has a comparison with the 300 and 310GS which I know well.
Will have a read of that later.
For the moment here are some pics of the last few months.
This is how my bike was set up.
After getting it trucked to Malaga with Fly&Ride, I nip back to the Hotel Sahara in Asilah.
I blast down to RAK in a day on the autoroute.
I rushed the job of sealing my 17/19 wheel combo and rolled into Marrakech with a depressurised front.
Simplest thing was to clean the crap off and bung a tube in.
Won't be adding preventative Slime again; if you do a good job should not be needed.
The rear lost a few pounds a day so I topped it up daily with this handy USB pump.
With the bike back in shape I head for the hills.
Re: On the Trail in Morocco: 310GS / CRF300L
Christmas treat for ABR readers! XL text sponsored by out friends at Specsavers.
From Marrakech I head up the Tizi n Test R203 road where the September earthquake struck.
First you see the tents – later you see the roadside wreckage. It was even worse up in the hill villages.
This is opposite the fuel station in Talat, near Ijoukak and 20km from the epicentre.
The town is destroyed and only half survived.
Houssein's place, where we spend the first night on my tours in a couple of weeks, is nearby.
I didn't hear from him for a week and assumed the worst, but his family survived and his lodge is intact, but not usable.
This is six weeks later and there are still daily tremors.
So even if houses are habitable, like Houssein and family, people prefer to sleep in tents.
I head over the high pass, past tent villages and towards Igli and Jebel Sirwa.
Up into the juniper zone.
And along the top at over 8000'.
I like these granite sand tracks: good grip.
I follow some local bikers down to Tazolt where I spotted a new auberge.
I'm cold and use the tajine lid to warm up.
In fact I'm getting a cold – my first since before Covid – and have a rough night, flailing about like an electrocuted octopus.
Next day I plough on, hoping my head will clear. Right now it feels like that High Atlas horizon looks.
I reach Crossroads X where key northern Sirwa tracks meet.
All recce'd months ago on Google/Bing aerials. What a great resource.
On the way back the paracetamol kicks in and I decide to go 'Full Donkey'.
It proves to be easy and is a handy short cut...
... that avoids more earthquake debris, though of course a 300L can slip by.
A meatball omelette down at Hamid's in Taliouine.
Next day I try and move on but the skies look menacing, the forecast is rainy and I'm still a bit poorly.
The day after, I pass more devastation on a new route across the southern Atlas foothills.
Yet amazingly the surviving villagers are as friendly as ever.
Life must go on; it was the will of god.
Let's go down there!
Like interminable field gates in Wales, there's a lot of stopping, but for jottings.
Oh MG - I fall off! First time since 2018 in Algeria.
I decide to celebrate this rare event with lunch.
I wonder if it's the front tyre which I mistakenly refitted back-to-front in Marrakech, while fitting a tube.
Next day I'm feeling better and scout a great track round the back of Jebel Timouka.
I wash up in Tazenacht where I get Kwik-Fit Khaled to flip my front tyre in 9 minutes flat.
That's longer than it took me to refit the sodding wheel!
Anyone else find this or is it just me?
Next: over the Timouka escarpment and down the other side to the desert floor.
Is the tyre better? Does the Pope ride a purple metalflake Sportster in his jimjams? Maybe.
I'm following an epic route we recce'd last February in Tojos for an Ineos Grenadier launch.
But post-earthquake, it doesn't look like any 4x4s will be coming this way for a while.
The shelf road ends as it drops into a stony oued.
In the riverbed there are no tracks following last winter's storms which ruined the Grenadier launch.
You may recall last February's 'Tomato Panic' caused by the bad weather.
It takes me an exhausting hour to recce, paddle and even ride the 4km to the mouth of the canyon where the riverbed meets a less unused track.
From there I know the way and take the old track round the back of Akka Warfaln.
When I first came here in the 90s this was the main way into the valley.
Now there's bitumen road.
I then follow the Agmour oued track; not done that since my CB500X RR. It's in great shape this year.
Things are turning deserty.
Then a 'new' route I divined off the aerials: the Tanzida Gap, key to an ancient trans-Sahara caravan route mentioned by Herodotus.
It gets a bit sandy so I'll test it out on the tour riders next week.
Camel tracks! We must be in the Sahara.
The GPS confirms it.
View over Talsint with the oued still running after last February's deluge which wrecked access across the south for weeks.
You may recall from Itchy's vids.
I need two pints of juice and a packet of crisps to get me where I'm going.
In Morocco, you can always buy scooter fuel from village shops when there is no station.
I bomb down the desert highway to Tata.
From Marrakech I head up the Tizi n Test R203 road where the September earthquake struck.
First you see the tents – later you see the roadside wreckage. It was even worse up in the hill villages.
This is opposite the fuel station in Talat, near Ijoukak and 20km from the epicentre.
The town is destroyed and only half survived.
Houssein's place, where we spend the first night on my tours in a couple of weeks, is nearby.
I didn't hear from him for a week and assumed the worst, but his family survived and his lodge is intact, but not usable.
This is six weeks later and there are still daily tremors.
So even if houses are habitable, like Houssein and family, people prefer to sleep in tents.
I head over the high pass, past tent villages and towards Igli and Jebel Sirwa.
Up into the juniper zone.
And along the top at over 8000'.
I like these granite sand tracks: good grip.
I follow some local bikers down to Tazolt where I spotted a new auberge.
I'm cold and use the tajine lid to warm up.
In fact I'm getting a cold – my first since before Covid – and have a rough night, flailing about like an electrocuted octopus.
Next day I plough on, hoping my head will clear. Right now it feels like that High Atlas horizon looks.
I reach Crossroads X where key northern Sirwa tracks meet.
All recce'd months ago on Google/Bing aerials. What a great resource.
On the way back the paracetamol kicks in and I decide to go 'Full Donkey'.
It proves to be easy and is a handy short cut...
... that avoids more earthquake debris, though of course a 300L can slip by.
A meatball omelette down at Hamid's in Taliouine.
Next day I try and move on but the skies look menacing, the forecast is rainy and I'm still a bit poorly.
The day after, I pass more devastation on a new route across the southern Atlas foothills.
Yet amazingly the surviving villagers are as friendly as ever.
Life must go on; it was the will of god.
Let's go down there!
Like interminable field gates in Wales, there's a lot of stopping, but for jottings.
Oh MG - I fall off! First time since 2018 in Algeria.
I decide to celebrate this rare event with lunch.
I wonder if it's the front tyre which I mistakenly refitted back-to-front in Marrakech, while fitting a tube.
Next day I'm feeling better and scout a great track round the back of Jebel Timouka.
I wash up in Tazenacht where I get Kwik-Fit Khaled to flip my front tyre in 9 minutes flat.
That's longer than it took me to refit the sodding wheel!
Anyone else find this or is it just me?
Next: over the Timouka escarpment and down the other side to the desert floor.
Is the tyre better? Does the Pope ride a purple metalflake Sportster in his jimjams? Maybe.
I'm following an epic route we recce'd last February in Tojos for an Ineos Grenadier launch.
But post-earthquake, it doesn't look like any 4x4s will be coming this way for a while.
The shelf road ends as it drops into a stony oued.
In the riverbed there are no tracks following last winter's storms which ruined the Grenadier launch.
You may recall last February's 'Tomato Panic' caused by the bad weather.
It takes me an exhausting hour to recce, paddle and even ride the 4km to the mouth of the canyon where the riverbed meets a less unused track.
From there I know the way and take the old track round the back of Akka Warfaln.
When I first came here in the 90s this was the main way into the valley.
Now there's bitumen road.
I then follow the Agmour oued track; not done that since my CB500X RR. It's in great shape this year.
Things are turning deserty.
Then a 'new' route I divined off the aerials: the Tanzida Gap, key to an ancient trans-Sahara caravan route mentioned by Herodotus.
It gets a bit sandy so I'll test it out on the tour riders next week.
Camel tracks! We must be in the Sahara.
The GPS confirms it.
View over Talsint with the oued still running after last February's deluge which wrecked access across the south for weeks.
You may recall from Itchy's vids.
I need two pints of juice and a packet of crisps to get me where I'm going.
In Morocco, you can always buy scooter fuel from village shops when there is no station.
I bomb down the desert highway to Tata.
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Re: On the Trail in Morocco: 310GS / CRF300L
Nice one...I was going to send a small donation to help after the earthquake, but then read that Morocco didn't need/wasn't accepting aid from abroad.
I hope they are sorting themselves out now.
I hope they are sorting themselves out now.
Re: On the Trail in Morocco: 310GS / CRF300L
Fast forward a few months and here I am a few days ago riding off the last piste onto the asphalt in Jebel Ougnat and logging Waypoint 1000.
Nice Berber lady took a snap; her boy did a photobomb.
(Didn't really get on with the Adv Spec Lineman pants, fyi. Full review on my www)
The weather has finally broken so I'll have to leave Jebel Ayachi summit (highest track in Mk @ 12,300') for another time.
On the way north up the N13 must have seen 200+ 4x4s, motos and all sorts. All heading south for the Easter hols, I guess.
In Feb did 10 days with James on an 890R rental – bagged lots of new routes in the High Atlas and Saghro, including a daring first descent into Anergui.
Finally got my 17/19 tubeless sealed properly on the CRF, now running oversized E07s but with a lowering Schmouba link keeping the height standard.
I sure wish I'd discovered these sooner. Best solution to CRF seat woes.
Ferry leaving Africa - a great feeling. Nothing can go wrong now (actually, it can).
There's rain in Spain. Time to slip into my 1980s PVC Rukka onesie. Best 100% waterproof ever.
Loads and loads of great pistes logged. Summer job will be turning it into Morocco 4 book.
Flogging the travel-ready CRF in April, fyi. My summary of the 300L on my www by this time tomorrow.
Nice Berber lady took a snap; her boy did a photobomb.
(Didn't really get on with the Adv Spec Lineman pants, fyi. Full review on my www)
The weather has finally broken so I'll have to leave Jebel Ayachi summit (highest track in Mk @ 12,300') for another time.
On the way north up the N13 must have seen 200+ 4x4s, motos and all sorts. All heading south for the Easter hols, I guess.
In Feb did 10 days with James on an 890R rental – bagged lots of new routes in the High Atlas and Saghro, including a daring first descent into Anergui.
Finally got my 17/19 tubeless sealed properly on the CRF, now running oversized E07s but with a lowering Schmouba link keeping the height standard.
I sure wish I'd discovered these sooner. Best solution to CRF seat woes.
Ferry leaving Africa - a great feeling. Nothing can go wrong now (actually, it can).
There's rain in Spain. Time to slip into my 1980s PVC Rukka onesie. Best 100% waterproof ever.
Loads and loads of great pistes logged. Summer job will be turning it into Morocco 4 book.
Flogging the travel-ready CRF in April, fyi. My summary of the 300L on my www by this time tomorrow.