The next day dawned sunny, perfect for getting on one of Taghia’s longer lines. We decided on Canyon Apache (5.11d), a 12-pitch masterpiece put up by the French all-around ace Arnaud Petit. Canyon Apache, like nearly every Taghia line, is so fresh that there’s little chalk. That and the exposed atmosphere and well-spaced bolts give the area a distinctly raw, alpine feel.

The first climber to visit Taghia was Manuel Punsola, in 1974. Then Tony Arbones, best known for bolting most of the routes around Catalonia’s premier cliffs, Siurana and Mont Sant, established Taghia’s first fully bolted climb, in the 1990s. It’s called Shoukran (5.12), a nine-pitch line beginning on obvious blue-to-black tufas. Petit also added several 5.11-to-5.13 gems on the spires, his most famous being Axe du Mal, a 5.13b on the 11-pitch tower of Taoujdad. Polish teams have also made substantial contributions, putting up stout-looking lines on at least three formations. Taghia routes tend to be eight to 10 pitches, on quality orange limestone with barracuda-tooth friction. The earliest Taghia climbs tackle lower-angled ridges, making for low-commitment “tradventures.”

As we reached the last pitches of Canyon Apache, we heard bleating. Sure enough, at the final belay, a Berber shepherd and his daughter greeted me. The two inhabited the plateau each spring, bivying at night in a grotto and tending their goats. Brittany gave them a Clif Bar and, to the girl, a hair tie for her black tresses.

“Ici, Ici,” said the shepherd, pointing to a severely exposed karst ridge. He walked across the narrow arête, which yielded a more tracked but still exposed trail back to the valley. The shepherds have painstakingly built bridges out of stacked rocks in the ridge gaps, reinforcing them with sticks that serve as solid makeshift beams.

On our second day, we set our sights on La Zebda (5.12c), 10 minutes from the gîte. Reaching La Zebda involves river hopping and catwalking along canals; the climb itself starts from the riverbed, and then zigzags across a flat wall. And while La Zebda lacks the aesthetics of a freestanding tower, it compensates with a stellar view of the village, where you might see climbers lounging atop the gîte or kids kicking a soccer ball in the red, mineral-stained hills behind it.