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One of the great cross-country routes in the High Atlas is the mix of pistes and roads from Imilchil to Midelt. Towards the eastern end of the route is the 'Cirque du Jaffar' (Jaffar Circus in English) which is a huge circular section around the natural ampitheatre carved by the Jaffar River. If you are in the Midelt area there are several circular routes you can take that incorporate the Cirque and only take part of a day to complete. This thread documents one of the routes, through the Gorge of the Jaffar river, or as I have named it, the 'Jaws of Jaffar'.
In the map below, the Cirque is the red section, the Jaws is the black bit.
On the map above, the route is going anti-clockwise. The first part is an easy tarmac section. From the main road between Zeida and Midelt, take the road signposted Ait Oumghar, heading east towards Jebel Ayachi. When the tarmac runs out, the rule for the next sections seems to be 'whenever in doubt, take the left turn'.
At this stage turn left (south east). The route continues to be fairly boring and you start to wonder if it's going to be worth it.
Until you reach the top of the gorge of the Oued Jaffar
Snow still on the northern slopes of Jebel Ayachi
Ready for the descent
Which is down the track, then into the narrow gorge ahead
The track here is mainly made by vehicles going, turning, and coming back.
When they see into the gorge. If you change your mind there is apparently another, easier track behind you, but which misses the best of the Cirque.
In reality, it's not that difficult to weave through the rocks
Until you hit ones that bounce the front wheel in the wrong direction
End of the gorge section
Taken from the track that continues westwards from the Cirque (6 Swiss bikes and 4x4)
Can you see the bikers in this photo?
Close-up of the Swiss KTM riders magnified 20 times gives an idea of scale
At the bottom
Looking up the exit from the cirque
Looking backwards into the Cirque
Looking backwards into the Cirque
End of the technical section, now a fast descent for 10km or more
Looking backwards on the fast, smooth section descending to Midelt
More information
Garmin track: Click here
Two recommended hotels are on the garmin file, Timnay to the north, and Auberge Jaffar near Midelt. I've split the tracks up to correspond to my piste classifications, GREEN=extra smooth novice piste, BLUE=normal piste, RED=some technical skill required, BLACK=difficult.
Much of the piste from Imilchil is category BLUE, however the uphill section from the Jaffar Circus to Midelt is better described as RED due to the switchback nature of the track and the dropoffs.
The section through the Jaws of Jaffar is an interesting test of stone riding through the stream/river and after the third pass through in two days on the XR400, I decided to class this as BLACK, i.e. not to be undertaken on a GS fully laden or alone.
Tim
In the map below, the Cirque is the red section, the Jaws is the black bit.
On the map above, the route is going anti-clockwise. The first part is an easy tarmac section. From the main road between Zeida and Midelt, take the road signposted Ait Oumghar, heading east towards Jebel Ayachi. When the tarmac runs out, the rule for the next sections seems to be 'whenever in doubt, take the left turn'.
At this stage turn left (south east). The route continues to be fairly boring and you start to wonder if it's going to be worth it.
Until you reach the top of the gorge of the Oued Jaffar
Snow still on the northern slopes of Jebel Ayachi
Ready for the descent
Which is down the track, then into the narrow gorge ahead
The track here is mainly made by vehicles going, turning, and coming back.
When they see into the gorge. If you change your mind there is apparently another, easier track behind you, but which misses the best of the Cirque.
In reality, it's not that difficult to weave through the rocks
Until you hit ones that bounce the front wheel in the wrong direction
End of the gorge section
Taken from the track that continues westwards from the Cirque (6 Swiss bikes and 4x4)
Can you see the bikers in this photo?
Close-up of the Swiss KTM riders magnified 20 times gives an idea of scale
At the bottom
Looking up the exit from the cirque
Looking backwards into the Cirque
Looking backwards into the Cirque
End of the technical section, now a fast descent for 10km or more
Looking backwards on the fast, smooth section descending to Midelt
More information
Garmin track: Click here
Two recommended hotels are on the garmin file, Timnay to the north, and Auberge Jaffar near Midelt. I've split the tracks up to correspond to my piste classifications, GREEN=extra smooth novice piste, BLUE=normal piste, RED=some technical skill required, BLACK=difficult.
Much of the piste from Imilchil is category BLUE, however the uphill section from the Jaffar Circus to Midelt is better described as RED due to the switchback nature of the track and the dropoffs.
The section through the Jaws of Jaffar is an interesting test of stone riding through the stream/river and after the third pass through in two days on the XR400, I decided to class this as BLACK, i.e. not to be undertaken on a GS fully laden or alone.
Tim
