UKC

We're thinking of spending 3 or 4 days at this refuge Toubkal in late August and climbing Toubkal, Timesguida and Ras An.... - a couple of questions for anyone in the know:

Is it worth taking stove/food or is the food in the hut good/cheap enough?
One post on here said take a sleeping bag - would a sheet bag suffice in August?
Are these climbs worth doing in the summer heat?
Anything else I should know?

With thanks, Jim

In reply to JimLondon:

There's a kitchen with good stoves but hardly cutlery/ pots at the Refuge du Toubkal. Best thing is to use the kitchen (you pay a nominal fee for gas) but take your own pots, pans and food. Take wayfarer boil-in-the-bags and supplement them with bread and fresh fruit/ veg which you can buy in Imlil.

Either take a light-weight summer sleeping bag, or take a sheet sleeping bag and hire a blanket at the hut, it'll probably be a little bit too cool at night for sheets alone. It's no problem to hire blankets as they have loads of them for winter.

The climbs from the Refuge du Toubkal are less interesting in summer than winter, but they're still well worth the effort. It'll be hot in the still air of the valley on the walk up to the refuge...but above about 3000m's it'll be cool enough.

If you're planning on carrying 3 or 4 days worth of supplies, it would be a good idea to hire a mule at Imlil to carry it all up to the hut, rather then stagger up 1400m of ascent with big packs in 30 + deg c.

In reply to THE.WALRUS:

Sir

Your catering standards are unacceptable, boil in the bag meals?

As a man of your experience, I would have expected a 7 course Cordon Bleu meal extravaganza, served with the finest wines, followed by Port and Cigars in the Gentleman’s Lounge.

Yours faithfully

Mr Tatlock

In reply to JimLondon: Thanks! Does anyone know if the Toubkal refuge offers reciprocal rates?

In reply to JimLondon:

It's part of the Morocco section of the CAF, so it should. In our experience last October, though, the refuge des Bouquetins, located 50m away from the CAF one, was much cleaner, much more comfortable and had much nicer staff. Not sure how the prices compare, though.

In reply to Alex Buisse: Thanks. Can anyone else confirm this? The other one is pricier I think...but not by a huge amount.

In reply to JimLondon: We stayed in Refuge des Bouquetins a couple of years back and were very impressed - spacious dorms with bunk beds, warm blankets provided and a good evening meal/breakfast. I've never stayed in refuge Toubkal so I can't comment on how they compare but from talking to people over there I got the impression that Refuge Toubkal is generally more crowded (possibly because its cheaper).