Hiking in the High Atlas Mountains

I spent most of last week hiking through the High Atlas Mountains with a group of students. Tiring? Yes, but the stunning views made it all worthwhile. The fact that 12 and 13-year olds could appreciate the stunning scenery was amazing in itself. We did go up and down the winding mountain-side trails, often with steep drops down to the gullys below.
Through traditional Berber villages with their flat roofs and mud and straw construction. The houses are also built up on the mountainside above the gardens and terraces that are placed as close as possible to the water in the valley's flowing stream. Aged, huge walnut trees often shaded the path, their nuts still a green "blob" on the tree. The cherry trees were loaded with red fruit, while the apples and plums were still growing. Corn and barley grew on the terraces with much of the barley in the process of being harvested.

We passed mules loaded with wooden boxes of cherries, "grass ladies" - a woman surrounded by a huge cape of freshly cut grass cur from near the river and then taken to feed the animals, young boys shepherding a herd of goats, women herding cows and even a crazy tourist cycling the mountain tracks.