On Course en Corse

We flew to Figari dressed and packed for our first day walking and

after a short transfer we found ourselves at the campground in Conca

It was more than I expected in many ways and thank goodness I was not really aware of all I might experience walking my first Grand Randonee, one of the famous European multi day walks.

Day 1 saw us climb about 1000 metres from Conca to a

Bergerie at Refuge De Paliri through a craggy granite range

The Gr20 on Corsica (Corse en Français) is the most famous of all. A 16 stage walk from North to South or as Chris and I would have it- South to North.

Day 2 saw us in pretty pine forests for most of the

day as we passed through Col De Bavella for

a coffee and.....

With the sun on our back and a gradual increase day by day of technical difficulty it was the right choice for me. We only had a week so could only travel the Southern part and complete seven stages over a six day period.

... continued to Refuge d'Asinao with its grumpy guardian.

Chris setting up Big Agnes, our new super light weight

tent purchased for the trip.  It was a very windy night

and she stood up well although I was sure a pole

would break!

On foot for between 7 and 10 hours a day, with one mad 12 hour day it was not only physically challenging for me it really tested me mentally and emotionally, in many unexpected ways.

Day 3 started with a steep climb out of Col d' Asinao over Monte Incudine (2134 m)

In fact for me it was more like going on a retreat at an Ashram in India in the sense that I had long periods of silence, a lot of time to challenge my monkey mind and rarely a shower and when I did it was very cold! 

A rest at the Col before descending.  Most people

walk north to south so although we passed

groups we rarely travelled with others

We camped in our own little tent and quickly fell into a routine of pulling up stumps in the morning, rising with the sun and the sound of the birds, sometimes porridge sometimes a fruit and nut bar and then walking for an hour, sitting in a rock guzzling water, walking another hour, sitting slightly longer- long enough to take off our packs - 8-10minutes and walking on. Eventually Lunch - local cheese, some honey for fast fuel and crackers for lunch and on, on, on.

You  would think that, as an island in the Med, seafood would

be the order of the day.  However traditional Corsican food

is mountain food.  Cured meat, homemade cheese, bread

and salad.  Lunch at the the Bergerie in Zicavo. 

Let me tell you though-until the last day- not an even path was to be seen. Corsica is one big rocky island in the middle of the Mediterranean. Rocky Mountain after Rocky Mountain and the GR20 is a climb and a descent and a climb and a descent through those mountains.

At the end of Day Three our Bergerie managers had a 

domestic dispute and she stormed off with packed bags.  After he had fallen

asleep (possibly drunk) and while Chris was on a work phone call, pigs raided our

tent and stole our small plastic bottle of olive oil. Not the best camp site!

So every day introduced me to new skills I would need to preserve body and mind. Soft knees down hill, trusting the grip on my boots when we were walking across an exposed rock face and using my walking poles to support long drops to the next rock or crossing rivers and streams.

On Day 4 the trail climbed and

snaked its way along the ridge sometimes between

these spectacular gendarmes on our way to Prati, at about 1850m.

I really surprised myself as my fitness improved ( I'd already done a fair bit of preparation at the gym back in Dubai) going uphill but found myself lacking going down. I did improve after a few days when I learnt the knack of a slow short run over the gravelly stuff giving me more traction than one step at a time.

Sometimes Kate had the camera.  She doesn't take a bad photo!

So without going on much further and taking away from all the myriad of guidebooks and blog posts out there on the GR20 I will summarise the highlights for me:

.

There were some challenging traverses

leading to the Bergerie at Usciulo

The Mountain flora. Stunning alpine flowers that carpeted large parts of the highest plateaus or grew from tiny
cracks in unexpected places

Wild goats showed us how clumsy

we were when it came to moving

over the rock terrain

The Geological variations in rock type. Some might call it granite; but each day I saw new rich intense colours in the rocks starting with the pinks out of Conca town, turning to dark greens, lighter greens, a new shade of pink and then agate type blues.

Mules having a feed and a

rest after bringing up supplies to the

Bergerie at Usciulo

I wished I had a team of donkeys with me to take the rocks home and shine them into a crystal paradise for me to enjoy everyday. But of course it was best to leave them in situ for all to enjoy!

Refuge d'Usciulo, but we couldn't stay.  The route is designed for a

6-9 hour walk between Bergeries and we had miscalculated the number

of days required as we had used an old guide with an alternate route.

So we had to cut out a day and we needed to push on.

The trees. We often stopped to marvel at a stand of pines. Taller than any we could ever remember seeing. More troubled than one could imagine with lightening strike scars at their base or the mark of many a white ant in the exposed cores.

Day 4 saw us continue to Col De Verde where camping is not permitted but we set

up at a flat spot near a disused refuge and we had a very peaceful

night. Day 5 would also be long as we traversed the

skyline in this photo from right to left and then crossed the valley to

our campsite

The peace.

Descending after a

big morning to Col Verde

for a nice lunch

The people you meet. Inspired by good friends, Nors and Jo, who had previously done the walk, we knew this was a place for us. Amongst those crazy enough to take their teenage children, new girlfriend, dogs ( I kid you not- each day we say a dog happily walking the GR20), people running the stages and people being guided every step of the way. 

The end of Day 5 saw us get a little off trail, which

at the time was frustrating but we ended up

spending a great night at a relatively new Bergerie

owned by a young couple.  This was the only evening

meal at the  Bergerie.  For me pigs tripe and mashed

potato.  It was excellent!

The locals. Their food. Everyone makes cheese, Copa ( a dried meat), the mules carrying loads into remote Bergeries( a place to camp and eat and possibly sleep in a dorm room), the wild pigs, the amazing bird life. 

Day 6 was still a long day.  Here

Kate crests the final climb before the

descent into Vizzavona.  We arrived at

5pm and by 5.30 PM we were on a train to

a nice hotel in the port town of Ajaccio

The detox. From cars, societal noise and news. From pollution. From a To Do list. 

Kate did a great job on the walk.  It was her idea

and she trained hard.  There were moments that

tested her but she never wavered in her resolve for

any of the 92.7 km and 4886m climbed! 

If you ever want to take yourself out of your comfort zone and find hidden reserves, lose face, lose confidence, find a new perspective, explore trust, delete old patterns and enjoy Mother Nature in her finest glory then go walking. 

Ajaccio is a nice little port town and birthplace

of Napoleon.  We stayed at Palazzu U Domu which was well

appointed had large rooms and welcoming staff....and a hot shower!

Thank you Chris for carrying most of the load, waiting for me a lot and guiding us both.

I had daily lessons.  My journey gave me insights into forgiveness, trust, commencement, fearlessness most of all self confidence.