September too hot?

[PaulXC]

Another question .....

Been ploughing through my old copy of Sahara Overland and have figured some routes I want to do.

I've got some unfinished business on a piste heading out of Merzouga towards to Zagora. When I went in '02 one of the guys I was riding with trashed one of the bikes about 20km out of Merzouga and by the time we had repaired it was too late to ride the piste and so we ended up heading back to Ouarzazate mostly on tarmac.

We went in early Novemeber and I remember it being pretty hot then - would Mid Sept be to silly heatwise?

Ta

 

[Fanum]

Could easily be mid to high 40's down there.

 

[PaulXC]

Could easily be mid to high 40's down there.

Aaah - November sounds a better idea then.

P

 

[Fanum]

Late September or October is probably the best time for sensible heat after the summer- It can still get up well over 35 down past Zagora though but I've also seen snow in the Atlas that early.......

It can be a country of extremes....an old Berber saying is that Morocco is a very cold country with a very hot sun- that's absolutely true.

Layers (thin fleeces) are your friend, and a thick buff or similar will keep you cool in the heat (soak it and the evaporation sucks heat out) and warm in the cold.....heated vests are fantastic too.

We have three sorts of trips...Level 2 where people are working harder off-road that we do up until early December and from Feb to early March (the coldest times) Level 1 where the weather is ideal for off roading (march, April, early May then late sept and October) and we only run ROad trips May/June/July then late Augus early September, when it can be too hot to exert yourself off road.

That said, conditions can vary wildly between mountain ranges and the deep south and you can never entirely predict temperatures

Preparation and flexibility are the bywords...too hot, head high, too cool, go south

 

[Paul G (BHT)]

Paul, if your route takes you past here:-
N30 40.589 W4 27.785

Stop in the small village of Remlia first, it's about 80km from Merzouga, and make sure you drink lots of fluid...... because you're going to need it

 

[Tim Cullis]

As Bill says, it's a land of extremes.

In Oct'07 it was 43c near Tata but in Oct'08 it was 1c near Timhadite.

Pistes have changed dramatically with the bad weather last year. Most of the sand has disappeared from the northern Foum Zguid track, sods' law says it's been dumped on tracks elsewhere!

Tim