In the Fall 01 2013 a couple of friends from grad-school days and I decided to plan a week-or-so long hiking trip. The tree of us, Stefano "Italian Stallion" Recchia, Andrej and I had met on trips with the outdoor club at Columbia and we enjoyed exploring new places by hiking and camping there. We were now spread all over: I was in New York, Stefano in Cambridge, England and Andrei in Italy. We decided on Corsica which some friends had suggested to Stefano as a great hiking destination. I was a little puzzled; how could a small island in the Mediterranean afford 10 days of hiking. Once we got there and got going, boy, bid I discover I was wrong. Corsica has the GR20, considered the toughest multi-day trek in Europe.
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| Hiking in Corsica |
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| The GR20 |
The GR20 runs the length of Corsica North-South and is about 180 kms long. The whole trek takes about two weeks to complete, and since we only had about a week, we decided to do the more difficult and hilly Northern part starting at Calenzana and ending in Vizzavona. There is a train that runs from Vizzavona that takes one to Ajaccio.
I arrived in Calvi, a port in the Northern part of Corsica and planned to meet Steffano and Andrej, a Slovakian friend of ours from grad-school at Columbia now living in Italy, in Calenzana. Calvi is about 15 kms from Calenzana, and to warm up for the trek, I decided to hoof it -which people I met along the way for directions thought crazy. It was a long and tiring walk but it helped me get a feel for the island. The Corsicans speak French but also Corsican which is closer to Italian. As I wound my way up from the port-city of Calvi and slowly started ascending to Calenzana, views of the Northern valley/bowl opened up a view that encompassed Calvi, Calenzana and a few other small towns that dotted the rugged mountainside. I also got a glimpse of the craggy tall hills to the south we would soon ascend.
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| The view of Calvi on the way to Calenzana |
Day 1 to Refugio d'Ortu
The trail is dotted with refugios which are huts with bunk-beds, kitchens and some provisions. There are enough of these that one can hike the trail without carrying a tent and with minimal food. Our first days's trek was to the Refugio'Ortu which takes up up to the main ridge -an ascent of 1300 ms. The day was beautiful and we had some lovely views from out lunch spot.
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Andrei, Stefano and me up above Calvi
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| Lunch spot on Day 1 |
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| Refugio d'Ortu |
Day 2 to Refugio de Carrozu
Climbing up 4000 ft on the first day made us realize that we were in for some rugged hiking, and we were not disappointed. The second day was even longer that the first day and it took us to the heart of the highest crags at about 2000 ms (6000 ft). The views were spectacular and we went up and down over some peaks.
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| Refugio di Carrozzu |
Day 3 to Refuge d'Asto Stagnu
As we walked through the towering pinnacles, we occasionally caught glimpses of the Mediterranean in the distance.
Day 4 to Refugio de Tigjettu
Day 5 Circque de Solitude
This was the toughest day of the trip as we have to descend into a hard-to-access valley aptly called "Circue de Solitude". It is so steep down that one has to descend holding on to chains that are bolted to the side of the mountain.
After a brutal 8 hours of hiking, we get to our campsite which was a small sheep and cattle farm. The farmer also ran a tiny restaurant where he served up food eked out from his farm. We were ravenous at this point we devour everything the farmer threw on the table: rustic bread, local wine, and a huge bowl of pasta with at mouth-watering lamb-sauce.
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| Sheep and Cheese Farmer's hut |
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| Farmer's Hut |
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| Cirque de Solitude |
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| With Andrei (the Martian) and Stefano (the Italian Stallion) |
Day 6 to Pietra Pena
The pinnacles along the way are spectacular. The valley of the Cirque de Solitude required us to descend rock-faces so steep that we had to hold on to chains bolted on to the rocks. All this with boots and a full pack. I'd climbed rock so was used to it. Andrej who was not got quite a scare from the descent.
I now got to appreciate why the valley is called Cirque de Solitude. The pinnacles and rock-faces around the valley are so steep that people historically rarely ventured into it. Only after the GR20 bolted and chained the descent is there regular human traffic.
Crazy Americans
I'd walked the first couple of days in my sandals (my trusted Chacos) but the toll started to tell and I had to switch to the boots I'd brought along as a backup. Many of the European hikes could believe that there was someone hiking in Sandals. They all seemed to dress for hiking de-riguer -hardy boots, hiking-poles, sun-hats, hiking pants- and shook their heads at me; one asked me if I was American in a tone that said "only American's would be crazy enough to dress like this :)
Sadly my boots had not been used in years and mold had gotten to the glue. After half a day they started falling apart. We had to use most of the duct-tape we had to strap the sole on to the boots. I was worried that they may fall apart. Luckily the Castel de Vergio refuge we reached that night was very well equipped as it used to be a ski-station and so had a road leading to it. I promptly bought myself a pair of boots.
I also decided to try hiking-poles after some prodding from my European friends -we had been amongst the slowest movers downhill- and they were convinced that I'd move faster with them. Sure enough they sped me up considerably and we were not the laggards that we had been after that point.
Day 7 to Ciottulu di i Mori
After many days of looking at granite pillars and walls, the day was a welcome change. We wound our way through beech-trees to a high grassy meadow with the picturesque Lake de Nino. It was a lovely lunch spot with a nice cool swim as we watched wild horses grazing around us.
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| Refugio de Ciottolu de i Mori |
Day 8
The weather turned for the worse while we were at Mori. A thunderstorm arrived overnight and it was raining as we set off in the morning. The weathermen predicted lightning so we had to change plans, as the days hike would have taken us up to one of the highest points in the hike to Capitellu at 7000 ft and to the Col de haute Route.
We chose a less exciting but more protected route to Pietra Piana. While descending to the refuge at Pietra Piana through a valley, the thunderstorm hit full-force. I'd forgotten my rain clothes in the hurry to pack for the trip and had to make do with some plastic bags I had managed to salvage at the refugio i' Mori. There was thunder and lightning all around us scaring the daylights of some fellow German hikers. Having grown up with the monsoons in India, the rivers of water we had to wade through along the hiking trail felt very familiar. After wading through streams of faster and faster flowing water we luckily came across a farmer's hut where we waited out the storm then headed thankfully to the refugio Pietra Piana which was taken care of by an old cranky French caretaker.
Day 9 to Vizzavona
The last days hike was a leisurely walk from Pietra Piana to Vizzavona. We descended through a long valley from where we could see Vizzavona in the distance. We were tired at this point, and while Vizzavona looked enticingly near, it took about four hours of gentle descent along the side of the valley to finally drag out weary but happy feet to Vizzavona and civilization. After a nice regular lunch I too a mountain-train to Ajjacio through some spectacular scenery.
What a trip!
