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The walk is claimed to be the hardest ‘foot path’ walk in Europe. This may or may not be the case, many people who complete it say ‘Oh, that was alot easier than I expected!’ and for them perhaps it was; some, especially hardened ‘Munro’ walkers anticipate that it will be as difficult as the Cuillin Ridge on Skye, there are certainly short sections which are comparable, but then they are surprised to find it an altogether tamer proposition. Never the less the route is a challenge, the terrain is unforgiving, it is essentially still a backpacking trip, and there are some long days. It is as much trying to cope with and anticipating heat and bad weather; infact dehydration and occasional massive afternoon electrical storms are part and parcel of the challenge.
The tours over the years, all seem to blur into one, but they are all punctuated by incidents and accidents: The GR20 is a grim reaper for anyone with weak ankles or knees, the trail is never flat and straight although often narrow. There is much walking on worn rock screes and boulder hopping amongst the mountains flanking rocky pavements. Next there is the exhilarating scrambling which is actually more secure as the rock is an amazingly grippy crystalline granite. The problems of course, occur when you fall onto it! On my very first GR20 - luckily for me only with a tiny group - someone fell off the rock and disappeared into the Alder scrub, luckily reappearing with a smile on his face. Two days later, another member was finished with knee problems. On another tour a gentleman tripped over his laces, rolled and bounced down the mountain side, fortunately getting wedged into to crevice just before a 50 foot cliff fall. He carried on with only minor injuries. Then there was a guy who decided to slide between consecutive plunge pools-that became a helicopter evacuation. Or the young man who cut an artery with his Swiss Army knife while opening a baguette! On the average GR20 my first Aid Box is plundered and ravaged for support bandages, dressings and rehydration salts.
Time is an important consideration, being able to make good progress underfoot: On quite a few days there is little or no water on route, especially in high summer, and the longer you are walking in the Sun, the more you are exposed to the effects of dehydration. People go down fast and need to replenish the salts that they have lost all the time. Speed is the essence with the storm issue as well: Ridge lines are most susceptible to storm activity and on the GR20 you are mainly walking on ridges! As most days are ‘set in stone’ - you have to get from one place to the other - you always hit certain storm ‘hotspots’ - such as the ‘Cirque de Solitude’ or ‘Monte Formicola’ at certain times which as a leader you can anticipate and if it looks dodgy, decide where you are going to sit it out for the next couple of hours. If the storm reaches critical mass and blows up, you don’t want to be anywhere near it - they are exceptionally frightening. Once they have died down, you walk through a refreshing wet mist into an eerie world now that the silence has been regained, and the fog soon melts into golden sunshine.
For alot of people the highlight of the walk is the ‘Cirque de Solitude’, a breath taking chain assisted scramble down one rocky head wall and up another. For me however it would be several more sublime experiences along the way: The sunsets from balcony of the Corrozzu refuge, wine in hand, the dinners at the Vallone Bergerie, the crystal cool plunge pools spotted along the way along the youthful Nino and Tavignano rivers, the beauty of the ‘Breche de Capitello’ - a narrow gap in a rock wall at 2000 metres, leading to a complex ridge walk and amazing views. A halfway break at a welcoming hotel in Vizzavona and an ‘eating day’ off in Corte. Then there are the verdant forests around the ‘Col de Verde’ and the little golden spotted Fire Salamanders that creep out onto the foliage in the wet. Then there are the peat lands of the ‘Coscoigne’ area, threaded with clear flower-flanked rivulets; the views to Sardinia from ‘Monte Incudine’; the views to Elba and Tuscany from ‘Col de Palimente;’ the pungent smell of juniper berries in the undergrowth; the cheese makers with their goats and cows; the crazy Corsican horsemen; the crazy Corsican feral pigs and the crazy Corsican horsemen shooting the crazy pigs!
The bonding experience between group members on the GR20 is something I have rarely seen on other tours; people muddle through, share the highs and lows and after the holiday a reunion is often planned. A couple of years ago I was visiting Scot’s ship ‘The Discovery’ at Dundee with a girlfriend that I had originally met on the GR20, there was something familiar about the wily old Scottish couple having a cup of tea in the adjacent cafe. Weren’t they on the GR20 six years previously? Sure enough and it was as if nothing had changed! Tour Information: Corsica GR20 Departure date: Sun 8 July - Sun 22 July We Want To Hear Your Views!
The Sherpa Expeditions Team |
After
ten years of leading the famous GR20, Jon Millen talks about his
longstanding relationship with the route.
The
Corsica High Level Route, Grand Randonee 20, is a ‘Holy Grail’ kind of
walk, it is something a lot of people aspire to do, perhaps to find
something within themselves as much as without. The trail is a rare thing:
an actual mountain journey, where you are amidst the mountains rather than
the valleys for much of the time, walking along the back bone of a
Mediterranean mountain island, where you more or less have to be self
sufficient. It is a tremendous experience, a ‘ tour de force’ of
beauty, amongst massive orange granite spires, and sections of glorious
Corsican Cedar, beech, pine and juniper forest usually under the deepest
Indian-Ink skies.
Some
one asked me on the last tour as we reached a pizzeria at the end and I
reclined into a chair with a glass of ‘Pietra’ - the wonderful local
chestnut flavoured beer: ‘What is your favourite part of the walk?’ To
which I replied: ‘This is!’ A little harsh perhaps, but leading on a
trip of this nature brings its own problems and pitfalls that the
uninitiated would not appreciate and it is always a great relief when
everyone completes the trek safely.
There
are certainly people who cannot complete the walk because of fitness
issues, there are also those who have given up on the first day when their
hands touch the first rocky section and they try to trace the red and
white waymarks leading upwards with their eyes, but their legs refuse to
follow! I have had to coax, coerce, assist, reassure, run forwards, run
backwards, ascend, descend, re-ascend, re-descend, like a frantic sheep
dog on occasion after my charges. Before even contemplating the GR20
People need to know that they can scramble to a moderate level with a back
pack of maybe up to 15kg, there is a degree of exposure on several days.
They also need to know that they can backpack all day on steeply
undulating terrain.
Nearly
every year the GR20 seems to be busier, a testimony to its popularity, but
the refuges have improved significantly since I started. Most now are
preparing simple evening meals, offering wine, beer and more supplies than
ever before. The showers at a couple have improved, but competition for
the best camping spots continues unabated: there is only so much flattish
land at each site.
Most
unforgettable are the nights under stars, watching the constellations
swing across the skies and the characters local or foreign along the way.
At some of the refuges the same ‘Guardian’ has run the place for years
and it is always a delight when they recognize your grubby sun-kissed face
and offer you a glass of wine, grappa or a piece of home made cake. Long
gone now is the wonderful Stetson wearing Jacko at his ‘L’Incudine
Snack-Bar’ complete with a parasol shaded terrace serving drinks and
light meals, and then making Sauscisson in the winter. His place was a paradise
by the River Risseau, working ever-so-slightly-illegally within the Park.
It was always great to be greeted by him again towards the end of a long
trip.