The final climb!

Ever tried to sleep at 3200m? We just did, and you cannot! The heart pumps so hard you have no chance to doze off. So rather tired, we started off at 6:00am (see photo) and set off with around 100 other people. Anna and our group were amongst the first on the mountain path and very quickly it became obvious that most people would not be making it to the top. We seemed on track to be at the top in around 3-4 hours, and Anna was walking well, the gap between Anna and the others growing as we went. The conditions were not too bad, but there was rain, snow and hailstones in small measure.
We reached the ridge around 09:15am, at a height of around 3,990m or so, and we could see the Sahara desert on the other side as we looked south.

Then, with just 15 minutes to go, at 4069m (98m from the top, or 2% - see photo, yes it could be anyone in there, not just Anna), Anna quickly changed and declared extreme tiredness and cold, and the guide was very quick to take off her ski goggles and look at her eyes and recognized she was clearly suffering from altitude sickness – and that she needs to go down, go down right now and fast. Anna was distraught. Her first question was “What about the money for the kids in India” and the guide said that in such conditions her Daddy was allowed to complete the climb for her, and he picked her up and literally ran down with her on his shoulders to 3400m or so. Sonia did her best to keep up. Anna stated constantly on the way down she was cold and needed her bed, and according to our guide, she was slumped over him, barely awake. Although later Anna recalled that he was running downhill “like a crazy madman”! Then suddenly, at 3400m she suddenly said that she wanted to carry on walking. This time however, Mohamed insisted it needed to be downhill….

So Jack and Andrea (our former au pair) duly got to the top with the second guide a few minutes later.
We all reconvened back at the refuge and Anna was her old self again, but still worried about whether or not this counted as a climb of the mountain or not. Everyone at the refuge was quite clear that of course it counts - she could see the Sahara! - and the guide pointed out that this is the highest a girl of her age has ever made it. Boys have made it to this height, but not to the top.
We then walked back down to the base camp/village at 1740m. Anna had been expected to take the mules down but instead walked almost all of it on her own – which was around 15kms or so downhill. This was a huge amount of walking, around ten hours in one day. Jack recorded 3400 calories on his polar watch, 2250 of which were for the 3200-4167 ascent and back, 1150 being for the three and a half hour descent. This is the biggest workout any of the adults have had in a day, and Anna more or less matched it!

When we had dinner, Mohamed, our main guide, presented Anna with a signed scroll that acknowledged her as “the 9 year old girl to get to the highest point on Mount Toubkal, unassisted” having walked all the way there from Imlil. She was very happy to receive this. We all slept 11 hours last night and Anna was of course the first one up in the morning! We will now head to Marrakech and spend the next 2 days there. Anna wants to go shopping in the grand Souk…. So anyone thinking she wants to be a “tough boy” is widely mistaken, she still clearly has some female characteristics…..
And Sona and Jack will be having a celebratory beer there…..because alcohol is not allowed in this area of Morocco….

Anna has already agreed a five day tour with the guide for next year which he is sure will better acclimatize her for the climb. We got to know Mohamed quite well during our tour and he wasd a super guide. Very fond of Anna (who he found no end of amusement in referring to as "Banana"), he spent a lot of time with her and was very impressed with how hard she always tried and how strong she was. So he has defined a very good plan for her for next year, and we are all excited to go back.

If anyone wants an excellent trip to the Atlas mountains, you can find a very friendly and well informed guide at http://www.trekkinginmorocco.com/.

In the meantime, he has promised to look after the stray kittens that Anna befriended during her stay...