Well, it is surely one of the most amazing, breathtaking places on earth. However the harshness and the exposed nature of the island can turn a holiday into Hellraiser III. If you were not prepared !!!
I can state that this is the wildest and most difficult terrain I ever encountered in my whole life. I mean, I did stuff like this and walked for sections of a hike on ground like this, maybe did a couple of races too, where we had like 30minutes of really technical crap. However, not for all day, every day, for 7 days and 12 to 17 hours a day. In addition we had the huge backpack, what is 15kg+ and even more with water and food. Actually we were down to like 10.5kg for me and around 7.5kg for my wife, but all the winter and bivac gear what we needed weighed a lot more than we planned. Actually as we wanted to do long days, our starting times were very early, so the snow was just so hard, like a glacier. For safe passage, we needed crampons, otherwise would have slid and dropped to the abysse. Also the upper part of the Manganu - Petra Piana section was super difficult and humid so an excellent grip and some heat for the legs were necessary for proper crossing. We met some guys passing with shoes and no chain devices or microspikes, but it was really out of our safety comfort. Security first, I have only one life and only one wife. Also there was a shuttle established between the huts to avoid this section. Between Asco and the joining trail to Teghiettu and Mori. For a reason !
Ferry
Ahh, I forgot to mention about the ferry. You gotto book it smart. Do not book it from the same spot, cause it is a disaster to travel back up to the north. It takes a day or maybe two, cause the local once a day transport is just very inefficient. Get to Calvi with the boat as the local transport is easy to find and it leaves just after you arrive, so you don't loose time.
Then book the backway from Porto Vecchio ! From Conca, the finishing spot is just a 30minute shuttle down to the port. If you booked morning 8 am departure time, make sure you have an overnight stay in Porto Vecchio, cause you cannot be down there from Conca for the 8 am departure. The driver will never wake up that early, especially if it was weekend. We booked ours for 21pm at the evening. You can sleep on the boat during the night. I got my ultra light eye shade, we found a super corner, laid out our sleeping bags on our mattresses and slept till 6:30 am, left the boat at 7 in Nice, France. When you go on the ferry, have WATER with you !!! Do not give your packs to the lobby guy and get long sleeved hot clothes on you, if you wanted to stay outside !!! Sea air is cooler and you got a 30km/h wind all the time !!! The boat is moving remember ?
You got to know, that french laws do not apply to Corsica or can say, they just do not give a damn. They live how they want, do what they want and how they want and do it publicly. In the TV, there was guy selling charcuterie (sausage, fromage, salami...) , he said that he does only super high quality stuff, but he sells it only for friends and family, sends a bit to overseas too. We talk about cured meat of 40 to 100€ euro a kilo. If he wanted to take a part from the "industrie", he should follow many regulations, like having fridge and sanitary stuff, adding some light preservatives, getting camions and doing contracts with other companies, bla bla bla. He would have to invest more, to get less and would be not even sure, that people would buy his expensive stuff from a regular store shelf. Instead of this, he does it all into the pocket. There is no road going into his shepherd hut and even with a helicopter, you can get only like 3km distance close, where you do not even have the permit to land, except if you worked for the PNRC. So nobody even disturbs him. This is how all the sausage producers work. In fact, in these hostile areas, that was the only way to preserve meat, so they just do it very very well. It is not your oversalted, overspiced and soft, lightly cured crap, what you can get in any store. No, it is the dry, very crunchy and tasty real jerky meat, with very low fat content compared to a regular sausage. All red, from wild pig, sheep, donkey, horse and beef. Depends. It is not a touristic souvenir but a a way of preserving meat in this tough environment for the brutal winter to come.
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This also applies to hotels, hostels, huts and transport. Do not plan anything too much ahead and allow time by booking a couple of days more than planned. You'll have surprises all the way. For instance our bus driver was 45minutes late and then drove around the city picking up friends here and there to arrive to Calenzana, not even at the starting point, but where he wanted, 2km away from the trail, really late. Don't even think that he said sorry or asked that we minded or not. Just did what he wanted and talking to us and laughing in the meantime. We even heard the dispatcher on the radio saying that a guy missed his boat after finishing in Conca, cause the bus driver was like 90minutes late or so. You must accept this and follow the rules of the Island. The Littoral or Habitual laws. Otherwise, you're gonna be in a huge chunk of crap, cause Corse don't forget ! Once you messed up, don't even think about mercy ! :D However they are superbly kind, welcoming and helpful. Very talkative, inquiring and honest. Follow their advice on the trail, because they know what they are talking about and know the mountain.
When you hear that a storm is coming and advised to not to go out !!! Then do not freckin' go out ! Wait till it is over and if you had to camp overnight, then camp overnight. Seizing the day at 14h at the afternoon can mean, a long night/day sleep, some equipment check and a longer next day starting at 3am for exemple. We did it many times ! A big walk from 3am to 7pm or even longer. Check it out on strava/garmin ! I used the ultratrac mode of the Garmin so unfortunately because of the high mountains, the track is all over the place :D
Food and pack
What to pack as an experienced hiker ? Well it is very steep in some places with fixed chaines, ropes and with serious climbing. While, yes we did it with very heavy backpacks, you can enjoy a lot more with a lighter one. We had a holiday here, not necessarily a hiking traversing trip. I had coffee, a big gas canister with the mini-stove and two cooking pots, one for water and one for food. That is already one kilo down, cause in the huts and shepherd houses you can drink coffee and eat hot food for not that expensive. You just gotto organise well before, in the knowledge of your fitness level and experience, cause if you arrived somewhere a day later, well you won't have food. Don't even think about calling up the hut that you are late a day !!! There is zero phone reception, unless you have a satelite phone and you are on the top of a crest somewhere.
So how do you get energy ?
Well from food ? I had a kg of brazil nuts, and 3 sausages for the first 3 days and some Ambronite, what is an all-natural super high quality meal replacement powder. Then we bought local cheese and sausages, copa, l'onzo and salami. Do not think about getting any kind of real fresh food on the GR20 !!! There is no salad, no pepper or potatoes, no spinach, no peaches, no local sunday fresh food market... When we arrived to Col de Vergio and Vizzavona, we were lucky to get some bananas, some apples, eggs and fresh hot local corsican bread and of course cheese and sausages.
However we collect very often at home wild herbs to make tea but for salad use too. So on the southern island we found stingy nettles, cleavers and chickweed in abundance with some dandelion greens and flowers, so we could get in some greens. Also pine is in abundance, we drank fresh pine needle tea every night with a bit of raw honey.
The other two items where you can save weight and space is sleeping bag and tent. I got a medium light tent for regular use, 2.6kg. You can go ultra light with a 1.5 or even a 1kg tent, just be careful !!!! This is harsh environment. Get self-supporting tents !!! Very important !!! During our stay I was able to peg down my tent only once. Only once !!! I was obliged to use rocks to secure our tent against wind. I very often woke up early morning like 90minutes before actual wake up time to go for a wee. This is when I just opened up our zips and all the breathing holes. To remove the condensed water. It worked out pretty much okay, mostly. Either ways, when you leave at 3 or 4 am, you pack up the fastest possible and when the sun is up, you stop for a 25min breakfast and you hang your tent up to dry.
Get some lite cords with you. Enough to cut small pieces and to have at least one 10meter long one. When we stopped for just 10 minutes, I pulled it across 2 trees, put some wet clothes on that burning sun and all dried out magically. Also when you wake up at the morning, straight away get your sleeping bag turned inside out (if it is dry on the outside) and hang it up. Just to refresh a little bit for the next night. If there was wind, even if it was bloody cold, the tent can dry out in like 10minutes just by hanging it up !
Ah about the cold and wet and so. Don't forget brining gloves with you !!!!
Sleeping bag wise. Get the lightest and smallest possible. Either ways, you'll have a small down jacket and long trousers with you. You'll be at altitude often, so even at summer time you will encounter -5 to +5°C temperatures even in August. The secret of a hot night is a quality insulation from the ground, not necessary the warmest sleeping bag. The Thermarest Z-Lite is one of the best in the market. Big classic with a very low price point of under 40bucks. In addition you will use it all the time. Any time we stopped I just pulled it out straight away. I can lay out all my gear on it and even have a sitting spot at the end. Or just stop for 15 minutes any time for a power nap. We even used as cold and rainprotection when we got into a serious thunderstorm on a ridge.
Thunderstorms
Most likely you will get into one. When you hear the rumbling, just start looking for cover. Straight away. Proper cover !!! Not a place where you are covered from the rain, but a river will sweep you away. There are 4-5 ridges where you really do not want to get caught !!! Asco - Teghiettu what is the Monte Cinto part. Manganu - Petra Piana what is the Breche de Capitellu and the 3 lakes part. Refuge l'Onda to Vizzavona, what is not only dangerous on the ridge because of lightning and floods, hail and and wind, but the descent is just brutal afterwards nearly all the way to Vizzavona. After Usciolu on the crest too, you do not want to get caught.
If you decide to wait it out under a rock, like we did 2 times, start dressing up straight away !!! It gets cold just in a matter of seconds. In 20minutes it dropped 20 degrees. The clouds and the fog started creeping up and it got freakishly cold. Our packs were always well organised and well packed, so we straight away pulled out our long trousers, dry t-shirt and second layer, a hat and gloves. You might say 5°C is not that cold. Well when you were in 25°C just minutes before, that drop will freeze you when you are static, regardless you are from Scandinavia. Do not just sit down in your hot clothes, but insulate yourself from bottom to top. We always pulled our z-lite mattresses under us to never get chilled. Also we had a bottom layer(ground sheet) for our tent for extra cold protection. It is like 400grams and gives not only a good night sleep, but can work as a tarp. I could organise an immediate shelter just with rocks or sticks and trees in just a matter of seconds.
Other Dangers
Dogs. No danger. In nearly all bergeries and around all mountain huts there are dogs. In Corsica the use of the Pyrenees shepherd dog is not a practice, so even after a very violent barking and teeth flashing, they always calm themselves and let you in and don't care about you anymore. In addition they are small and mostly very playful. Attacks are unknown unlike in the Mercantour or the French Riviera, where if you've seen a big white dog, you do not wait for a smell test, cause it is gonna end with a chunk missing from your calf. Get a stone and a long stick and stab it, then the drunken shepherd too, then report self defence to the police with the head of the dog in your hand. Either ways in Corsica this is not an issue and do not worry about it.
Cows are no problem at all. However the TORO, the males. They are just monstrous. The head of a beast is like 5 to 8 times bigger then a human's head. It looks like a freckin' minotaur. Do not be fooled, they are not always black, but pale sand color, brown or have patches sometimes. Do not look into their eyes, do not fixate on them and when you see one, try to get into a safe position choosing a good 100m way around. Try talking to each other medium loud from far distance to warn them, that you are coming. They do not hear really good, so if you surprise them from 15m distance, they might get very nasty and angry. We once found a shelter under a tree and 2 giant toros were gathering around us also trying to find rain cover under trees. We were crapping ourselves due to the "balls out period", as they were stumping the ground, barking, giving weird noises and blowing air from the nose and stuff. It was as scary as a lion facing you. One of them walked across front of us like 5m distance, suddenly stopped and started fixing on us for like 5 minutes. No moving, no noise, no more eating, just fixing on us. Do not look in to the eye !!! After 5min it turned his head straight had two more glances and left. HRMAX 200bpm !!!
Slipping and falling, twisting and ankle or a knee, getting stung by bees and vasps, maybe allergy to certain things can happen. Dehydration, sunburn and just basic stuff should be taken care of as an experienced hiker.
It is also end of June now. People don't even think about getting winter equipment. Well, here you go a nice photo taken on the 18th of June.
So yeah, ski mountaineering is still possible !!! So call the Asco refuge and send a couple of emails before you go over, as you might need crampons and ice axe for some snow crosses. Just as we arrived an accident happened to a runner trying to go up on a slope like this. He dropped 40m down sliding with no grip crashing on the rocks. Accidents can happen to anybody, so do not think you are special. Even Killian gets into trouble sometimes !!!
You can email these two guys about the snow conditions too.
Also, high mountain conditions are always present. The evenings can be shockingly cold. Arriving to Calvi, you might think, why the hack did I take my down jacket and micropolar with me. When you wake up at 4am at 2000m altitude, your next question will be, why didn't I take a warmer sleeping bag and a long trouser with me ? Or when you are scrambling over rocks, chains when raining or early morning you might want some waterproof winter gloves, if your hands were sensitive. It is GR20, it is Corsica, it is mountain. Sounds romantic, well it is god damn hard !!! You'll see. The earlier you go, the more snow you'll encounter, the later you do so, the heat will smoke you. Trekking, adventuring, exploring is never easy, but spiced with hard-hard moments, however with the greatest visual, mental and emotional rewards ever !
Water
There is water all over the place. However the fresh drinking water might not be that fresh after the initial snowmelt. So if you drank from streams and springs in July to September, get a water purifier or a Micropur !!! For us carrying 2L of water would be enough. We double filled only one day and we emptied only once, but had some reserves in a bottle.
TIP: Get a light wide mouth bottle to actually gather water and fill up your bladder with that. Placing your bag in the mud to take the bladder out and messing around with the hose is just a disaster. I never took out my bladder ever from my bag, just removed the sliding top, filled it up and of I went. Wide mouth bladder, wide mouth bottle. I had an old Source and a Nalgene.
Training
Training for us was easy. We do not just jump into stuff, from zero to hero. A lot of people do so. They think that the Friday basketball game and the 3 pushups on Tuesday is enough, casue it is just walking. Well, first of all, you carry over 10kg, for hours on end, every day ! Second, the terrain is very technical, so your feet, ankles, knees, hips and spine should be strong as. Well, now you might overthink and want to get into ultra-running and going to the gym.
Staying active all the time, using a 15 to 20minute daily routine to strengthen core, legs and upper body, with a weekly shorter speed-walk and a loaded weekend hike is enough. Do it for 3 to 4 months and you'll be surprised how well you'll adapt on the GR20 as days pass. When you go unprepared, every day you get more and more tired, but when all is in place, you get stronger with the distance !!!
We are runners, both, but do significant amount of hiking. We are sports people, we do train every day, I am out running on trails sometimes even 3 times day, I ride to work every day for 90minutes back and forth and do train my core and flexibility daily. I am a personal trainer, using kettlebells and weights very often, but also ran a couple of over 50km races already this year. Just to show, that yeah I am freckin' fit and healthy with a good diet and still say that it is brutal, the GR20 is hard !!!
I just met people doing only until Vizzavone (half way) in 10 days. When you are not prepared, take your time !!! A lot of time !!!
Training with the bag is also necessary, because until you actually carried it over harsh, steep terrain, you do not know that you are capable of, or not. We live near a steep and technical MTB downhill piste. We did 4 weekends up and down, just to adapt a little bit. Not much, about 2.5hours each time, but as I said, we already had a sport background.
Navigation and Energy
Navigation is very easy on the GR20. The signposting is excellent. From one sign, you should see the next one or at least a cairn. We never ever-ever got lost. The south region is a bit less technical, you might have less signposting but still very much doable with no map. We printed out our maps too, just in case ! Had also a compass with us, to play with it and to identify surrounding peaks.
If you had smart phone, you can use the http://iphigénie.com platform on it, what is all the 1:25000 IGN of France with a cheap yearly subscription fee and an additional 5euro to be able to download maps too. So what you do is pay both and like this you can actually download whole corsica, turn your phone on airplane mode and can use it for navigation without phone reception and without charging. I have a giant samsung galaxy note 2 (3.5 years old) and had to charge only after 6 days. I was using it very frequently for taking photos and making videos. I just dimmed the screen down to it's minimum and used the airplane mode.
We had also two Garmin watches and two rechargeable headlamps. So on amazon I found a light 16000mah battery for like 25bucks, I used it to charge our lamps every day and for the phones and GPS too. It held up well. We can see guys using solar panels to do this. It will be larger and heavier, but it works okay too. I would use that more likely on longer expeditions.
Links:
http://www.parc-corse.org
http://www.le-gr20.com/fr/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GR_20
https://gr20corsica.wordpress.com/
http://corsica.forhikers.com/gr20
http://www.corsicanatura.fr
PS: This will be a growing post, but for this moment it is quiet complete.
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| Arriving to Calenzana 1hour late. No problems, we have our lamps charged and ready to go through the night. A steep section with a lot of non-techincal climbing. We already encountered a giant Toro on this very first day. Scared the hell out of us as the monstrous head was sticking out from the bush with flies around it. |
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| Day one, walking into the darkness to Orto di i Piobbu. Arriving at 22:30 at the evening, setting up our tent first time at night time. Took 2 minutes more than inside the house ! A good self supporting tent is your best choice. If rain is surely not coming, just pop up the inner layer fast with no pegs and it won't take more than 3minutes to get a shelter. Do not leave anything outside though, cows are curious and will take your t-shirt away !!! |
Ferry
Ahh, I forgot to mention about the ferry. You gotto book it smart. Do not book it from the same spot, cause it is a disaster to travel back up to the north. It takes a day or maybe two, cause the local once a day transport is just very inefficient. Get to Calvi with the boat as the local transport is easy to find and it leaves just after you arrive, so you don't loose time.
Then book the backway from Porto Vecchio ! From Conca, the finishing spot is just a 30minute shuttle down to the port. If you booked morning 8 am departure time, make sure you have an overnight stay in Porto Vecchio, cause you cannot be down there from Conca for the 8 am departure. The driver will never wake up that early, especially if it was weekend. We booked ours for 21pm at the evening. You can sleep on the boat during the night. I got my ultra light eye shade, we found a super corner, laid out our sleeping bags on our mattresses and slept till 6:30 am, left the boat at 7 in Nice, France. When you go on the ferry, have WATER with you !!! Do not give your packs to the lobby guy and get long sleeved hot clothes on you, if you wanted to stay outside !!! Sea air is cooler and you got a 30km/h wind all the time !!! The boat is moving remember ?
 |
| Our first ridge experience, hmm. Wasn't so bad, but a lot more to come. The second day with the rolling terrain from Piobbu to Asco is a killer. A lot of hands on climbing. Make sure you don't go to the GR with fixed length poles, cause it will be very uncomfortable. |
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| These kind of protected but very exposed crossings are present all the way to the finish. If you got some fear of heights, just make sure you practice height exposure well before, to get used to it ! Mental and physical preparation is key to success !!! |
This also applies to hotels, hostels, huts and transport. Do not plan anything too much ahead and allow time by booking a couple of days more than planned. You'll have surprises all the way. For instance our bus driver was 45minutes late and then drove around the city picking up friends here and there to arrive to Calenzana, not even at the starting point, but where he wanted, 2km away from the trail, really late. Don't even think that he said sorry or asked that we minded or not. Just did what he wanted and talking to us and laughing in the meantime. We even heard the dispatcher on the radio saying that a guy missed his boat after finishing in Conca, cause the bus driver was like 90minutes late or so. You must accept this and follow the rules of the Island. The Littoral or Habitual laws. Otherwise, you're gonna be in a huge chunk of crap, cause Corse don't forget ! Once you messed up, don't even think about mercy ! :D However they are superbly kind, welcoming and helpful. Very talkative, inquiring and honest. Follow their advice on the trail, because they know what they are talking about and know the mountain.
When you hear that a storm is coming and advised to not to go out !!! Then do not freckin' go out ! Wait till it is over and if you had to camp overnight, then camp overnight. Seizing the day at 14h at the afternoon can mean, a long night/day sleep, some equipment check and a longer next day starting at 3am for exemple. We did it many times ! A big walk from 3am to 7pm or even longer. Check it out on strava/garmin ! I used the ultratrac mode of the Garmin so unfortunately because of the high mountains, the track is all over the place :D
Food and pack
What to pack as an experienced hiker ? Well it is very steep in some places with fixed chaines, ropes and with serious climbing. While, yes we did it with very heavy backpacks, you can enjoy a lot more with a lighter one. We had a holiday here, not necessarily a hiking traversing trip. I had coffee, a big gas canister with the mini-stove and two cooking pots, one for water and one for food. That is already one kilo down, cause in the huts and shepherd houses you can drink coffee and eat hot food for not that expensive. You just gotto organise well before, in the knowledge of your fitness level and experience, cause if you arrived somewhere a day later, well you won't have food. Don't even think about calling up the hut that you are late a day !!! There is zero phone reception, unless you have a satelite phone and you are on the top of a crest somewhere.
So how do you get energy ?
Well from food ? I had a kg of brazil nuts, and 3 sausages for the first 3 days and some Ambronite, what is an all-natural super high quality meal replacement powder. Then we bought local cheese and sausages, copa, l'onzo and salami. Do not think about getting any kind of real fresh food on the GR20 !!! There is no salad, no pepper or potatoes, no spinach, no peaches, no local sunday fresh food market... When we arrived to Col de Vergio and Vizzavona, we were lucky to get some bananas, some apples, eggs and fresh hot local corsican bread and of course cheese and sausages.
However we collect very often at home wild herbs to make tea but for salad use too. So on the southern island we found stingy nettles, cleavers and chickweed in abundance with some dandelion greens and flowers, so we could get in some greens. Also pine is in abundance, we drank fresh pine needle tea every night with a bit of raw honey.
 |
| First signs of snow. Good or bad omen ? I mean, walking in colder temperatures will be just a bliss, but the conditions might change very quickly. From cool, to cold and wet, from rain to thunderstorm, from 15m visibility to 1m !!! |
The other two items where you can save weight and space is sleeping bag and tent. I got a medium light tent for regular use, 2.6kg. You can go ultra light with a 1.5 or even a 1kg tent, just be careful !!!! This is harsh environment. Get self-supporting tents !!! Very important !!! During our stay I was able to peg down my tent only once. Only once !!! I was obliged to use rocks to secure our tent against wind. I very often woke up early morning like 90minutes before actual wake up time to go for a wee. This is when I just opened up our zips and all the breathing holes. To remove the condensed water. It worked out pretty much okay, mostly. Either ways, when you leave at 3 or 4 am, you pack up the fastest possible and when the sun is up, you stop for a 25min breakfast and you hang your tent up to dry.
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| That is how it looks like. Big steep snow fields. It looks bad ? It was worst !!! I mean I loved every moment of it, but the wife has still nightmares of falling !!! |
Get some lite cords with you. Enough to cut small pieces and to have at least one 10meter long one. When we stopped for just 10 minutes, I pulled it across 2 trees, put some wet clothes on that burning sun and all dried out magically. Also when you wake up at the morning, straight away get your sleeping bag turned inside out (if it is dry on the outside) and hang it up. Just to refresh a little bit for the next night. If there was wind, even if it was bloody cold, the tent can dry out in like 10minutes just by hanging it up !
Ah about the cold and wet and so. Don't forget brining gloves with you !!!!
Sleeping bag wise. Get the lightest and smallest possible. Either ways, you'll have a small down jacket and long trousers with you. You'll be at altitude often, so even at summer time you will encounter -5 to +5°C temperatures even in August. The secret of a hot night is a quality insulation from the ground, not necessary the warmest sleeping bag. The Thermarest Z-Lite is one of the best in the market. Big classic with a very low price point of under 40bucks. In addition you will use it all the time. Any time we stopped I just pulled it out straight away. I can lay out all my gear on it and even have a sitting spot at the end. Or just stop for 15 minutes any time for a power nap. We even used as cold and rainprotection when we got into a serious thunderstorm on a ridge.
 |
| Nice descent, isn't it ? Very ankle twisting, slippery and just mad !!! An hour of this scree-field and you want to commit suicide. |
Thunderstorms
Most likely you will get into one. When you hear the rumbling, just start looking for cover. Straight away. Proper cover !!! Not a place where you are covered from the rain, but a river will sweep you away. There are 4-5 ridges where you really do not want to get caught !!! Asco - Teghiettu what is the Monte Cinto part. Manganu - Petra Piana what is the Breche de Capitellu and the 3 lakes part. Refuge l'Onda to Vizzavona, what is not only dangerous on the ridge because of lightning and floods, hail and and wind, but the descent is just brutal afterwards nearly all the way to Vizzavona. After Usciolu on the crest too, you do not want to get caught.
If you decide to wait it out under a rock, like we did 2 times, start dressing up straight away !!! It gets cold just in a matter of seconds. In 20minutes it dropped 20 degrees. The clouds and the fog started creeping up and it got freakishly cold. Our packs were always well organised and well packed, so we straight away pulled out our long trousers, dry t-shirt and second layer, a hat and gloves. You might say 5°C is not that cold. Well when you were in 25°C just minutes before, that drop will freeze you when you are static, regardless you are from Scandinavia. Do not just sit down in your hot clothes, but insulate yourself from bottom to top. We always pulled our z-lite mattresses under us to never get chilled. Also we had a bottom layer(ground sheet) for our tent for extra cold protection. It is like 400grams and gives not only a good night sleep, but can work as a tarp. I could organise an immediate shelter just with rocks or sticks and trees in just a matter of seconds.
 |
| You'll never see a normal trail, track or road. The whole 180km has around 10km of walkable section. The rest is rocky as !!! |
Other Dangers
Dogs. No danger. In nearly all bergeries and around all mountain huts there are dogs. In Corsica the use of the Pyrenees shepherd dog is not a practice, so even after a very violent barking and teeth flashing, they always calm themselves and let you in and don't care about you anymore. In addition they are small and mostly very playful. Attacks are unknown unlike in the Mercantour or the French Riviera, where if you've seen a big white dog, you do not wait for a smell test, cause it is gonna end with a chunk missing from your calf. Get a stone and a long stick and stab it, then the drunken shepherd too, then report self defence to the police with the head of the dog in your hand. Either ways in Corsica this is not an issue and do not worry about it.
Cows are no problem at all. However the TORO, the males. They are just monstrous. The head of a beast is like 5 to 8 times bigger then a human's head. It looks like a freckin' minotaur. Do not be fooled, they are not always black, but pale sand color, brown or have patches sometimes. Do not look into their eyes, do not fixate on them and when you see one, try to get into a safe position choosing a good 100m way around. Try talking to each other medium loud from far distance to warn them, that you are coming. They do not hear really good, so if you surprise them from 15m distance, they might get very nasty and angry. We once found a shelter under a tree and 2 giant toros were gathering around us also trying to find rain cover under trees. We were crapping ourselves due to the "balls out period", as they were stumping the ground, barking, giving weird noises and blowing air from the nose and stuff. It was as scary as a lion facing you. One of them walked across front of us like 5m distance, suddenly stopped and started fixing on us for like 5 minutes. No moving, no noise, no more eating, just fixing on us. Do not look in to the eye !!! After 5min it turned his head straight had two more glances and left. HRMAX 200bpm !!!
Slipping and falling, twisting and ankle or a knee, getting stung by bees and vasps, maybe allergy to certain things can happen. Dehydration, sunburn and just basic stuff should be taken care of as an experienced hiker.
It is also end of June now. People don't even think about getting winter equipment. Well, here you go a nice photo taken on the 18th of June.
 |
| June 18 2016 |
So yeah, ski mountaineering is still possible !!! So call the Asco refuge and send a couple of emails before you go over, as you might need crampons and ice axe for some snow crosses. Just as we arrived an accident happened to a runner trying to go up on a slope like this. He dropped 40m down sliding with no grip crashing on the rocks. Accidents can happen to anybody, so do not think you are special. Even Killian gets into trouble sometimes !!!
Also, high mountain conditions are always present. The evenings can be shockingly cold. Arriving to Calvi, you might think, why the hack did I take my down jacket and micropolar with me. When you wake up at 4am at 2000m altitude, your next question will be, why didn't I take a warmer sleeping bag and a long trouser with me ? Or when you are scrambling over rocks, chains when raining or early morning you might want some waterproof winter gloves, if your hands were sensitive. It is GR20, it is Corsica, it is mountain. Sounds romantic, well it is god damn hard !!! You'll see. The earlier you go, the more snow you'll encounter, the later you do so, the heat will smoke you. Trekking, adventuring, exploring is never easy, but spiced with hard-hard moments, however with the greatest visual, mental and emotional rewards ever !
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| We had a full day of exposed ridges. You don't see on the photo, but under her, there is a sheer drop of a couple of 100m. We walked snow lines like this for hours, with no chains and no ropes. Your feeling of security might not be present at all. It was not that bad as many people did it before us, but using crampons and maybe an iceaxe will elevate the sureness. In these conditions with a heavy back pack, I can say it was some medium alpinism. |
Water
There is water all over the place. However the fresh drinking water might not be that fresh after the initial snowmelt. So if you drank from streams and springs in July to September, get a water purifier or a Micropur !!! For us carrying 2L of water would be enough. We double filled only one day and we emptied only once, but had some reserves in a bottle.
TIP: Get a light wide mouth bottle to actually gather water and fill up your bladder with that. Placing your bag in the mud to take the bladder out and messing around with the hose is just a disaster. I never took out my bladder ever from my bag, just removed the sliding top, filled it up and of I went. Wide mouth bladder, wide mouth bottle. I had an old Source and a Nalgene.
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| All your suffering will be rewarded by breathtaking views. |
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| Choosing good footwear to wear day in day out is just obligatory !!! If at the end of a day, your first thought is to take off your shoes, that was not the best choice !!! I had no black toenails, no blisters and no problems. Some soaked up feet after hours of walking in rain and mud, but only one day was like that. Altra Lone Peak 2.5 !!! I even advised it to a friend doing the Transpirenea 800km+ foot race !!! He will be using it !!! |
Staying active all the time, using a 15 to 20minute daily routine to strengthen core, legs and upper body, with a weekly shorter speed-walk and a loaded weekend hike is enough. Do it for 3 to 4 months and you'll be surprised how well you'll adapt on the GR20 as days pass. When you go unprepared, every day you get more and more tired, but when all is in place, you get stronger with the distance !!!
We are runners, both, but do significant amount of hiking. We are sports people, we do train every day, I am out running on trails sometimes even 3 times day, I ride to work every day for 90minutes back and forth and do train my core and flexibility daily. I am a personal trainer, using kettlebells and weights very often, but also ran a couple of over 50km races already this year. Just to show, that yeah I am freckin' fit and healthy with a good diet and still say that it is brutal, the GR20 is hard !!!
I just met people doing only until Vizzavone (half way) in 10 days. When you are not prepared, take your time !!! A lot of time !!!
Training with the bag is also necessary, because until you actually carried it over harsh, steep terrain, you do not know that you are capable of, or not. We live near a steep and technical MTB downhill piste. We did 4 weekends up and down, just to adapt a little bit. Not much, about 2.5hours each time, but as I said, we already had a sport background.
Navigation and Energy
Navigation is very easy on the GR20. The signposting is excellent. From one sign, you should see the next one or at least a cairn. We never ever-ever got lost. The south region is a bit less technical, you might have less signposting but still very much doable with no map. We printed out our maps too, just in case ! Had also a compass with us, to play with it and to identify surrounding peaks.
If you had smart phone, you can use the http://iphigénie.com platform on it, what is all the 1:25000 IGN of France with a cheap yearly subscription fee and an additional 5euro to be able to download maps too. So what you do is pay both and like this you can actually download whole corsica, turn your phone on airplane mode and can use it for navigation without phone reception and without charging. I have a giant samsung galaxy note 2 (3.5 years old) and had to charge only after 6 days. I was using it very frequently for taking photos and making videos. I just dimmed the screen down to it's minimum and used the airplane mode.
We had also two Garmin watches and two rechargeable headlamps. So on amazon I found a light 16000mah battery for like 25bucks, I used it to charge our lamps every day and for the phones and GPS too. It held up well. We can see guys using solar panels to do this. It will be larger and heavier, but it works okay too. I would use that more likely on longer expeditions.
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| Salamanders are all over the place on the south. Be careful where you step !!! |
http://www.parc-corse.org
http://www.le-gr20.com/fr/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GR_20
https://gr20corsica.wordpress.com/
http://corsica.forhikers.com/gr20
http://www.corsicanatura.fr
PS: This will be a growing post, but for this moment it is quiet complete.