Mullingar hikers return from ‘epic’ Morocco expedition

Mullingar Hiking Group have returned to Mullingar following an “epic” trip to Morocco to climb North Africa’s highest mountain.

Some 28 members of the group took on the 4,167m Mount Toubkal climb, beginning on Friday February 2, and reaching the summit the following day.

The group’s founder Kenneth Delaney said they reached the summit just in time to see the sun rise over the Marrakesh and the Atlas Mountains.

“We timed the climb so well and got to the top just five minutes before sunrise,” he told the Westmeath Examiner.

“We got to base camp at 3,100m around 3 o clock in the day on Friday, had lunch and went to bed at 8pm. We all got up then at 4am to head off in the pitch dark with our head torches on.

“It took us a few hours from then on to get to the top – it was such a good buzz.”

Mr Delaney, who had been sidelined from climbing for the better part of a year due to injury, said some members of the group struggled with altitude sickness.

“I found it very hard myself,” he said. “I really suffered, I was a half hour behind everyone going up and an hour behind everyone coming down.

“I was so buzzing for myself personally, on a personal level, just to get that first hike out of the way after coming back from a bad injury.

“Everyone is still buzzing from the climb this week after we got home, it was that good.”

The group were aided on the expedition by local guides and transport animals. “We also had mules carrying all of our expedition bags, which was absolutely class,” said Mr Delaney.

“They just do it on their own, there’s nobody guiding them and they just know all of the tracks and trails themselves.

“It’s unbelievable because the tracks are so narrow – those mules probably do it every day.”

One father and son who joined the group were using the Mount Toubkal climb as a training weekend for climbing Mount Everest in April, according to Mr Delaney.

“It’ll take them nine weeks to do Everest,” he said.

“They got close last year, camp four, before they had to turn around but they should be well prepared now after using this climb for training.”

The group founder said he has loaded more trips planned to look forward to. “It was brilliant and we’re looking forward now to getting back to our Irish hikes for a while, said Mr Delaney.

“We have Mount Blanc in June and Mount Skye after that – I’m just really happy with how the group is going at the moment and all the good feedback we’ve been getting.

“This hiking group is really growing and it’s on the start of it.”

Mullingar Hiking Group’s highest climb to date was the 4,800m Mount Blanc in France, which they completed last June.

They plan to better that record by taking on the 6,100m Island Peak Mountain in the Himalayas, in October.