Haute Corse: 23 June -9 July 2007

In the summer of 2007, MMC members Natacha Mihajlovic, Ray Harron, John Henderson, Graeme Morrison and Simon Willatts undertook a traverse of the GR20, the high Corsican mountain range regarded as the toughest long-distance, way-marked route in Europe. Natacha’s report is both an excellent chronicle of the trip and a great guide for anyone contemplating doing the GR20 themselves. Read on and prepare to be inspired!

Part 1 – Introduction

At the start of 2007, club members Ray Harron, John Henderson, Natacha Mihajlovic, Graeme Morrison and Simon Willatts booked their flights to Calvi to complete the GR20 across Corsica. Whilst packing for the trip, it was essential to keep bag weight to the strict minimum. This led to repeated rucksack weight comparisons in the last few days prior to departure. Eventually, loads varied significantly from 12.5kg to 20kg.

The main objective of the trip was the completion of the GR20 trek which is regarded as the toughest long-distance, way-marked route in Europe. The trek itself is 170km long and takes between 10 and 14 days to complete, traditionally from North to South. We did it in 11 days. It involves over 13,000 metres of ascent and descent. More than half of those who attempt the route do not complete it. A secondary objective was to climb Monte Cinto which is the highest peak on the island and lying just off the route of the GR20.

Ray had been there before, thus a lot of knowledge was already available: up-to-date guide books and maps had to be purchased. There is a wealth of information available on the internet about the GR20 and Corsica. Reports by people who had just completed it were very useful. A lot has changed since 1995 and the route through this remote and harsh environment is much more popular now.

On the GR20, it is impossible to pay for anything using cards. You must carry enough money to pay for everything before leaving the UK. There is little risk in carrying relatively large sums of cash and ATMs are only found in the big towns.

TRAVELLING: we booked our flights through Air France from Aberdeen to Calvi, Corsica. Taxis were used to cover the short distance between Calvi Airport and Calenzana where the GR20 starts. The end of the trek is at Conca at the south east of the island. From there, we returned to Calvi by public bus. Taxis were again used to travel back to Calvi Airport.

ACCOMODATION: we spent our first night in a Gite d’Etape in Calenzana. Although there are numerous refuges along the route which offer accommodation, these are operated on a first-come first-served basis: it is not possible to book ahead. Camping in the wild is forbidden but you can camp in designated sites by the refuges. We used a combination of tents, refuges, gites and hostels throughout. The refuges provide dormitory sleeping space on a foam mattress. You need your own sleeping bag. The gites are one step up with bunkbeds and hostels provide individual beds with sheets and blankets. Generally camping was the preferred option.

FOOD: some guide books suggest that prices in Corsica are similar to the UK. This is not entirely true as food on the GR20 can be expensive. It is a very remote area and supplies at the refuges are brought in by helicopter or by mule. It is possible to complete the GR20 without carrying any provisions as these can be bought at huts along the way. There, we had an evening meal and sometimes breakfast. These meals varied between good and fairly poor (spaghetti swimming in olive oil and raw garlic being the worst we were served). More accessible hostels obviously had better standards.

EQUIPMENT: no great deal of specialist mountaineering equipment was needed. The route was completed using normal trekking/hiking gear. Everyone had a thermarest, mummy liner, sleeping bag, some toiletries, change of clothes and a Platipus. All of the refuges provide gas stoves but when crowded it was useful to have our own.

WEATHER: the weather pattern in Corsica for June/July is normally settled with dry days but with the possibility of thunderstorms in the afternoons. The route is usually clear of snow by the end of June. July and August are the hottest months with no water in the streams which means that water must absolutely be carried between refuges. It gets light around 6.00 and dark by 22.00 at this time of year. The first day’s trekking was all uphill in baking hot sunshine. The second day started dull and cool but this gave way to rain for about 6 hours before clearing up in the evening. The third day we had to abandon our attempt to climb Monte Cinto due to gale force wind on the mountain. Thereafter, the weather generally improved and was good for trekking. The final days were back into hot and sunny.

ACHIEVEMENTS: the GR20 is physically demanding on account of the weather and rocky terrain. It requires resourcefulness, fitness and drive. The ascent of Monte Cinto had to be abandoned due to bad weather, but the main objective, the trek itself was achieved by all. The successful completion and social fun achieved through the GR20 together with the safe return of everybody must rate this as a very successful trip.

Part 2 – Diary of Events

Saturday, 23rd June 2007

At Aberdeen Airport, we are told that Air France has over-booked the flight and that there are no seats left on the aircraft to Paris. They book us on the next KLM flight to Amsterdam at 16.15 and then on to Marseille, but the final leg to Calvi is not until the morning after. In Amsterdam, we contact Simon who has already arrived at Calvi and arrange to meet with him at Calenzana at 11.00 the following day. The flight to Marseille is on time and we recover our bags. We get a budget hotel room for the night. It has been a long and frustrating day: not really a good start.

Sunday, 24th June 2007

Up at 5.30, we walk the short distance back to the airport to check in for the flight to Calvi. Once there, we get a taxi to the Gite d’Etape in Calenzana where we meet up with Simon. It is too late to start the trek, being lunchtime by the time we have sorted out our kit. It is ideally better to be on the route before 8.00 to do most of the walking in the cool of the morning. As the Gite d’Etape is fully booked, we have to camp. We are now a day behind schedule but at least it is dry and warm and we should make this day up along the route if the weather stays like this. We go for a walk around the local area in the afternoon and have a meal in Calenzana in the evening.

Monday, 25th June 2007

We have breakfast at the GR20 restaurant by the start of the route, take a few photos by the signpost at the start of the route and are on our way by 7.30. It is already hot and today’s leg of the route is all uphill: approximately 1,850m. We have a few breaks and reach the Refuge D’Ortu di U Piobbu 6 hours later. After checking in with the guardian, we pay for our night there and put up our tents on the rough rocky site. It is very windy and finding a good spot for pitching turns into a fairly difficult mission. But the views are amazing. We sort out our kit and have a wash in the stream. It is still hot so we relax in the sun. Our evening meal, a plate of plain spaghetti in garlic flavoured olive oil, is welcome with more or less enthusisam. This is followed by a slice of cake washed down with an expensive can of beer. Bed follows shortly after.

Tuesday, 26th June 2007

We get up at 5.45 and boil water to have breakfast. We are on our way by 7.30. It is a nice morning however it gets cloudy and cool later. Rain, slow at first, pours down as we descend to the Refuge de Carozzu, a grim place. We have lunch of sorts and soon carry on to the Spasimate Slabs. They are wet and slippery but not too difficult. It is then a long way to the top but by the time we get there, it is sunny again. A long descent of 700m to Haute Asco awaits us. This is a big ski resort with a hotel, gite, restaurant, bar and shop. We check into the gite to stay two nights at half board. The facilities are good and we have an excellent meal. We meet another British guy (Alan) from Perth. This is his second attempt at the GR20. We are all in bed by 22.00 and sleep well.

Wednesday, 27th June 2007

Up a bit later (7.30), we pack up as we have to change rooms. Breakfast follows with bread and jam and we are on our way up Monte Cinto. It is extremely windy with dark clouds on the top. It gets worse and we meet other walkers coming down. At about 2,100m, we stop as the wind is so strong. The summit is covered with swirling cloud. There is no chance of anyone making it to the top in these conditions so we head back down to Haute Asco which we reach by 14.00. We have lunch on the balcony and then rest in our new room. It becomes sunny again but still windy and fresh. The evening meal in the gite restaurant is excellent and the staff who are from mainland France, very friendly.

Thursday, 28th June 2007

5.45am: it is a nice cloudless morning but the forecast is for strong winds. We pack up and have breakfast of croissants and jam before heading off. The route goes steadily uphill for 750m to the top of the Cirque de la Solitude. It is just breezy, which keeps us cool. We descend into the Cirque, go up the other side and are past it 4 hours after leaving Haute Asco.

Down the Cirque… … and up again!

We go down to stop at the Refuge de Tighjettu where we have lunch. Then, we head on down past the Auberge U Vallone and up the valley towards Mori. It is a 600m climb. We get to the Refuge de Ciottulu di I Mori at about 17.00 where we meet the guardian, a most miserable and unfriendly example of pond-life. Although sunny, it is cold outside. We make some tea and have a wash. There is just one toilet and the one shower is freezing cold. Our evening meal is surprisingly good: vegetable soup and bread, then pasta with cheese and cake for dessert. After paying our bill, we go to bed early as it is cold at 1,991m and everybody feels tired.

Friday, 29th June 2007

We pack up and are glad to be on our way by 8.00. It is a fine morning, sunny with blue sky as we go downhill towards Hotel Castel de Vergio. We stop at a pool and the brave ones go for a swim, but the water is really cold. At the hotel, we have omelettes and cake followed by ice cream for lunch.

Our return to civilisation does not last long: we set off again towards Manganu. It is initially a gentle ascent and then it becomes flat. The weather is not too hot and we stop for a while by the Lac du Ninu wherefrom we carry on down to the Bergeries de Vaccughja. There is nothing worth buying so we continue on to the Refuge Manganu. It is mobbed with people but we find reasonable camping sites. The meal (a bowl of boiled beans in tomato sauce with bread) is plain but filling and tasty. We are all quite tired after what has been another hard day where we have squeezed two legs of the route into one.

Saturday, 30th June 2007

We start the day with a long slog uphill to the col above the Lac de Capittelo. It is busy as a mountain race passes through the col.

It is then all downhill to the Refuge Pietra Piana where we buy some pate, biscuits and cake for lunch. More downhill and we have a swim at some pools.

Another long 500 metre slog uphill to the Refuge de Onda follows a quick halt at the Bergeries de Tolla. We stay in the large campground which is busy as this is Saturday evening. It is a nice place and the staff is friendly. We have a good meal of spinach and ricotta lasagne washed down with a bottle of wine filled from a large drum in the corner.

Sunday, 1st July 2007

We get up later than usual as this is a fairly short day and have breakfast in the refuge. It is not particularly good value at 6 euros for coffee and a slice of bread but we do not have to make it and sitting at a table is nice. We head off by 8.30: it is 670m straight uphill from the refuge but not too hard as the temperature is fairly cool. The way to Vizzavona is all downhill. We stop for another swim by clear pools and have a snack. We continue down and stop at a new café where some of us indulge in more ice-cream. At Vizzavona, we get half board at the Hotel I Laricci. Back in 1995, this hotel was called the ‘Hotel Moderne’ and was a complete dump. It has since had a name change and a lick of paint on the outside, but remains much the same on the inside. It is only 15.30 so this is a good opportunity to have a hot shower, wash clothes, dress wounds and sort out the kit. In the evening, we have a good meal of chicken and potatoes.

Monday, 2nd July 2007

It is a bright sunny morning at first then it suddenly gets dull and clouds roll in over the hill tops. Rain follows with thunder and lightning. We wait a while and the thunder soon passes but it continues to rain. Eventually, it turns into a dry cool day. We stop for lunch at Capellea before carrying on to Col di Verdi. This is a nice place as well but busy so we have to camp by the gite. Later, we enjoy a decent meal consisting of pork chops and chips in the restaurant. It has been another long 2-leg day. Exhausted, we are all in bed by 22.00

Tuesday, 3rd July 2007

We are away by 8.30. The weather is dull, breezy and cold most of the day. There is a demanding 1,290m of ascent. We have a faff near a summit with a prominent cross on it and lose half an hour but still complete the leg in 7 hours. It has been a hard day if short to the Refuge D’Usciolu which is very busy. We end up camping on the rough ground around it. When the sun sets, the temperature drops and it feels cold at 1,750m. Traditional Corsican music is on. We have a meal of pasta, beans, carrots and meat for 8 euros each. The little shop has a good supply of food items.

Wednesday, 4th July 2007

We are up at 5.30 and it is claggy and cold.

Graeme Morrison: “Are we back hame?”

Throughout the day, the clag only clears intermittently and we make our way up the ridge in very poor visibility. As the rain stops, the wind gets stronger. We head down to a plateau where we make good time. Then, it is uphill again towards Monte Incudine and eventually, we reach the top. At 2,134m, it is the highest point on the GR20. We make our way down the steep descent to Refuge d’Asinau where we have lunch and finish off our sausage and cheese. It is miserable there so we are glad to get going again to warm up. The Col de Bavella is reached after another 3.5 hours. It has been another long 2-leg day. This is a nice place to stay and staff is friendly. We have a good meal of soup, veal stew and chocolate pudding followed by a good night’s sleep in a proper bed.

Thursday, 5th July 2007

This is our last day on the route: we enjoy a later start and are on our way by 9.00. The wind has eased and it is a bright and warm morning. It is a single 7 hour leg to finish the route, but there is still 700m of ascent. The going is very rough and there is a hard climb up onto a col. After that, it is mostly downhill with two sharp ascents before the final drop down into Conca. We get there and complete the route at 15.30. After a well deserved drink at the nearby café, we take photos of the end point and then walk down to the gite where we check in to a flat with evening meal and breakfast included in the price. It is a hot sunny afternoon down here away from the mountains and time to relax.

Friday, 6th July 2007

We have breakfast at the gite and at 8.00 get a lift in their mini-bus to the stop in Sainte Lucie de Porto Vecchio where we get the bus to Bastia. It is a 3 hour journey but the bus to Calvi does not leave till 16.30 so we leave our bags at the bus station and spend the afternoon looking around Bastia. The bus gets us to Calvi at 19.00. We have no accommodation booked but know we can always camp if we find nowhere else. The first budget hotel we try is full and we are told that all the hotels will be full as the Clavi Rock Festival on. We walk towards the campsite to the east of town and on the way find an apartment which is vacant. A proper bed is preferable to another night in a tent and it is actually excellent value between all of us. The next few days (Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th) are spent on the beach resting, sunbathing, swimming, playing racket games and sea kayaking.

Calvi coastline John Henderson: the hard life!

Monday, 9th July 2007

We walk into town and get a taxi to the airport. The flight to Paris Orly is on time. A bus takes us around Paris to Charles De Gaulle and our onward flight to Aberdeen.

Part 3 – Useful Information

While planning and completing the route, we used the Cicerone Guide book by Paddy Dillon ‘GR20 Corsica’ (ISBN 1-85284-477-9) – price £12.95. This book was published in 2002 and some of the information is out of date, especially regarding facilities along the route. Additionally we used the ‘Rough Guide to Corsica’ (ISBN 1- 84353-608-0) price £11.99. This book was published in 2006 and gave more accurate information with a detailed description of the GR20 route. Both books describe the GR20 from north to south.

Getting to Corsica and back from the north of Scotland is not easy. We investigated many possibilities taking into account time, money and inconvenience. The most convenient way was also the cheapest and quickest: fly from Aberdeen to Calvi. This was still a laborious process involving 3 different flights each way, which made for 2 long days of travelling.

The maps we used were bought from Stanfords on the Internet. The maps were ‘Corse du Sud 09’ and ‘Haute Corse 08’ which come in 1:60,000 scale. The GR20 is so well marked with red and white painted markers (about one every 10 metres) that detailed maps are not essential: it would be possible to do the route using only the sketches in the guide book.

We took MSR Pocket Rocket stoves which use the universally available screw on type gas canisters which we intended to buy at the start of the route. This type of canister is unavailable anywhere along the GR20 but the rarer clip-on and old-fashioned pierce-able types are widely used.

It is always a good idea to pre-book your first night’s accommodation even if you are uncertain of what you are going to do next. We used the Gite d’Etape Municipal in Calenzana which we booked by phone (0033 4 95627713). There are many refuges along the way which provide food and limited accommodation. As they fill quickly in peak season, it is essential to take tents. These refuges cannot be pre-booked: this prevents commercial trekking companies from block-booking them for the entire season.

Allow a whole day for the return journey from Conca to Calvi. There is a bus to Bastia at 8.30 (3 hours) but then a 5 hour wait before the next bus or train to Calvi (also 3 hours).

We took out insurance with the British Mountaineering Council (BMC): you must be a BMC member or affiliated member to do this. As an MMC member, you are affiliated to the MCofS/BMC.