On May 24, 2024, we climbed at Jardin des Roches. This crag is in the main gorge, across the river from the road and the various vendors selling fresh orange juice, t-shirts, scarves and other souvenirs. Expect an audience if you climb here.
Access
We parked at the northern end of the gorge, where we had parked for Sous La Via and Summer Garden and then we walked down the river, past the hotel, to the crag.
I wanted to climb at a crag beside the river because I thought it would be nice to take off my shoes at the end of the session and wade in the cool water. However, when I looked at the water, it had a lot of tiny black snails on the rocks near the shore. I didn’t want to step on them. There was also a lot of algae in the water. I decided to stay out of the river.
The Climbs
This photo gives you a sense of the size of the gorge. The road is on the right. The building at the base of the wall is actually a large hotel. The Jardin des Roches crag is to the right of the hotel, out of sight around the corner.
The river has water starting at the hotel. The dry river bed, above the hotel, is in the foreground of the photo. A herd of black goats arrived here daily from the hills to get a drink and entertain tourists.
The highest route here was 35 meters.
Dan is at the top of a route, preparing to rappel. You might have to zoom in to see him.
Here our rope is hanging on one of the three routes we climbed. Dan is at the top.
These were fun routes with interesting features in the rock and some big cracks. I wished we had brought some cams to add protection to these routes. Some of the bolts were a bit too far apart for my comfort.
A stick clip would have been good here too. The first bolts on some routes were a high.
Overall, it was a fun area to climb and explore. It stayed shady all through the morning. We enjoyed another warm, blue-sky day in Morocco.
It was always interesting to see the animals near the crags and the local people coming down from the hills. This woman and child were bringing their horse and donkeys to drink at the river. The child carries empty water containers to fill at the river.
This was our last day climbing in Morocco and one of our last days in the area. I enjoyed the rock and the climbing here.
Leave a Reply