Wed 11th Oct Traversing The Atlas Mts, Speaker Hamish Brown

We were honoured to have as our speaker Dr Hamish Brown, Scottish mountaineer, lecturer, photographer, writer, poet and international mountain guide. With over 30 plus books to his name and what he calls, Munroitis, an incurable disease, there was no doubt an entertaining talk was in store. Hamish certainly did not disappoint, what he described as a light headed look a Morocco.

Having sat in a café with a fellow mountaineer, they discussed on the back of a packet a project to traverse in 79 days across the Atlas Mts, from Taza to Tamri, with the assistance of two mules and two locals.

For those 79 days Hamish and his fellow traveller became nomads. Camping in some very isolated and scenic locations. Along the route they were joined by friends for a section of the journey, including our very own Richard Cormack and his wife.

Hamish’s photographs may not meet the exacting eye of a camera club judge. What they most certainly revealed was the diverse natural surroundings along the trip, and the ethic people who lived and worked within the mountain region. Even, surprisingly, an Englishman, having given up life as a university lecturer, now plied his trade as a local butcher in the middle of nowhere!

As expected with a journey of this nature, weather would play a huge part in the routes they were able to follow and how they could use the mules, who understandably did not like the snow on the high mountain ridges. They encountered flash floods, snakes, officialdom. Yet despite everything  that was thrown at them, they completed the journey within the time they had given themselves.

This was an enjoyable and informative talk through the words and images of Hamish Brown, very much enjoyed by members and guests.