Walking the GR 20 - Corsica
Posted: Sat 14 Dec, 2013 6:23 pm
Last June I did the GR 20 in Corsica with a mate. The GR 20 is billed as the hardest way marked route in Europe, and whilst that maybe overselling it a bit its still a fairly hard walk, we climbed 13325 metres over 200 km in 15 days. The route itself has plenty of scrambling but nothing too outrageous, most of the dodgy bits have good hand holds and sometimes man made protection.
I carried a tent, but my mate slept in the refuges or hire tents, there are pros and cons to both methods, I enjoyed the privacy and the awesome camp views, however the extra weight has to be carried over some serious hills. My mate loved the social side of the refuges and appreciated having less weight. We stayed in hotels on the three occasions that we could, which allowed me to re charge my gadgets. Generally we both ate at the refuges or cafes where we came across them.
Unfortunately unseasonable snow stopped us completing the Cirque de la Solitude, however I still managed to scramble down the North side on a day walk from Haut Asco. The same snow stopped us from completing a lot of the higher side trips, I guess I've got a good excuse to head back one day.
Overall it was a top walk, and I think I could really get used to this style of walking!
I've written up a day by day journal http://hiking.topicwise.com/doc/GR20 with plenty of photos if anyone wants some Christmas reading while you are watching the cricket.
I carried a tent, but my mate slept in the refuges or hire tents, there are pros and cons to both methods, I enjoyed the privacy and the awesome camp views, however the extra weight has to be carried over some serious hills. My mate loved the social side of the refuges and appreciated having less weight. We stayed in hotels on the three occasions that we could, which allowed me to re charge my gadgets. Generally we both ate at the refuges or cafes where we came across them.
Unfortunately unseasonable snow stopped us completing the Cirque de la Solitude, however I still managed to scramble down the North side on a day walk from Haut Asco. The same snow stopped us from completing a lot of the higher side trips, I guess I've got a good excuse to head back one day.
Overall it was a top walk, and I think I could really get used to this style of walking!
I've written up a day by day journal http://hiking.topicwise.com/doc/GR20 with plenty of photos if anyone wants some Christmas reading while you are watching the cricket.