Corsica’s GR20 South, the videos – trekking ‘Europe’s toughest trail’

It’s that special time of year when you get to see more of my amazing videos. A full eighteen months ago, Edita and I had the great pleasure of trekking the GR20, the infamous long-distance trail along the spine of the mountainous island of Corsica.

I say infamous because it’s known to be one of the toughest, hairiest long-distance trails in Europe. There is no better person to confirm this than Paddy Dillon, the man who wrote the Cicerone guidebook Trekking the GR20 Corsica, who describes it as ‘Europe’s toughest trail’.

A few years ago, in a topsy-turvy turn of events, the guidebook publisher Cicerone were kind enough to send me a nice coffee-table book to celebrate their 50th birthday – topsy-turvy because it was their birthday but they sent me a present). The book has been sitting on my shelf largely unread for six years, but the other day I decided to pick it up, looking for inspiration. It features 60 short essays by their large team of guidebook writers, each describing a trek or cycle ride in a memorable part of the world.

There is a short piece by Paddy Dillon about the GR20 that made me laugh quite a lot. The GR20 is certainly quite a gnarly trek with some rough trails, exposed sections and an inordinate amount of scrambling. Paddy explained his emotions upon being offered the chance to write the guidebook:

I was more than a little apprehensive about accepting this project. Apprehension gave way to bouts of stomach-churning fear, almost on a daily basis, as I would find myself in situations I normally try to avoid. I’m not happy on steep rock and the GR20 had an abundance of it.

Later in the piece he described seeing trekkers ‘rooted to the spot, crying tears of fear’. It made me laugh not because I enjoy reading about other people’s discomfort, but because – although I nearly died at one point – on the whole I hadn’t found the GR20 too bad and I was tickled to have done something considered so hardcore by a man who is no wimp.

Anyway you can see for yourself. To ease ourselves into it, we trekked it south to north. The southern section is certainly a lot easier, so you shouldn’t find these videos too frightening.

There are two videos covering the southern section, with 18 minutes of footage in total. In a later blog post I may scare you a bit more with some videos of the northern section, but I haven’t got round to editing those yet and I don’t want to build them up too much in case they end up looking pathetic.

You can watch the whole thing in one go here. You can also see all my still photos from the trip here, and read the full trip report here.

1 The GR20 South from Col de Bavella to Refuge d’Usciolu

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We were dumped by the roadside to start our trek at Col de Bavella, a day’s walk beyond the official starting point of the GR20 at Conca. This wasn’t by choice, but because our tour company had chosen to start us there for convenience’s sake, and we hadn’t checked the itinerary before booking.

It was a hectic start, but we had a map and route directions, and the paint marks were so easy to follow that you could probably walk the entire route without them. In any case, the scenery was so grand that within minutes this rude beginning was quickly forgotten.

On the first day we ascended steeply on the alpine variant (high-level route) up to the dramatic rock pinnacles of the Aiguilles de Bavella. After briefly getting lost, we joined a queue of hikers waiting to descend a sloping slab with the help of a via ferrata chain. The rest of the day was easier, up a broad ridge to the pass of Bocca di Pargulu, then down, down, down through forest into the peaceful Asinau Valley.

On the second day the wind was howling like a mad wolf. We climbed up to the peak of Monte Incudine (2,134m) and gazed across the verdant Plateau du Cosgione, before descending across hillsides to Refuge I Croci for the night.

The drama increased on the third day. Things started gently enough as we ambled through quiet woods, crossed wide open spaces and descended through a secluded valley beside bubbling streams. But in the afternoon the path took a deflection upwards through forest to gain the crest of a jagged ridge. We passed through a portal in the rock to be greeted by views down to Corsica’s east coast. In sweltering heat, Edita raced along this ridge while I puffed along behind her like an old steam engine. There were some short scrambles, but the views were magnificent in both directions. We ended the afternoon at the mountain campsite of Usciolu, tucked away in a hollow beneath the ridge.

2 The GR20 South from Refuge d’Usciolu to Vizzavona

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While the southern half of the GR20 is generally considered easier than the northern half, this rule could not be applied to our fourth day. Starting from the eagle’s nest of Refuge d’Usciolu, we continued along the same dramatic rocky ridge before descending steeply through forest to a col where the Mare a Mare (Coast to Coast) trail crosses the GR20.

So far, so good; but then things changed. The next section took us over peak after peak in searing heat. The trail was rough, often crossing steep boulder fields. I counted at least four separate peaks, each one tantalising us with satisfaction, only to be let down when we reached the top and discovered the next peak ahead.

The difficulties ended at Refuge de Prati. A little beyond, a pleasant trail descended through forest and we reached Col de Verde, where a motor road crossed the mountains. Here we stayed the night at one of the nicest campsites on the trek, with a superb terrace restaurant.

Days five and six were much easier. The fifth involved a gentle amble along a forested hillside, with occasional views up to the mountainous ridge of Monte Renoso. More of the same followed on the sixth day before the trail left the forest to ascend to the pass of Bocca Palmente. Here we enjoyed a fabulous view of the rocky cathedral of Monte d’Oro. The southern half of the GR20 ended with a steep descent through forest to the sleepy village of Vizzavona.