MANGANU TO E CAPANNELLE

SPOOKY ASCENT TO BRECHE DE CAPITELLO

LAC DE RINOSO

FRIENDLY BEASTS, FAR TOO CHILLED TO THREATEN ANYONE

BOCCA MUZZELLA AT 2,210 METRES

ONE OF MANY LIZARDS

WALKING COMPANIONS, WITH TOM AT FRONT RIGHT

DISCARDED BOOTS AT VIZZAVONA RAILWAY STATION

CAN'T GET MUCH MORE SECURE THAN TYING YOUR TENT TO A SNOWPLOUGH

It was now Monday the 14th, and according to my guide, today I would be hiking the 7th stage of the trail, taking me from the Refuge de Manganu to the Refuge de Petra Piana. A study of the map suggested that I would be on steep rocky terrain again, and this certainly turned out to be the case.

It had been windy overnight - indeed Neil and Josie's tent had almost blown down in the small hours - and that wind persisted throughout the day.

The final ingredient of the day's weather was the fog, which was dense and persistent throughout the morning. It made the climb up to Breche de Capitello seem quite spooky. Working along the ridge from there was hard work with lots of rock obstacles to climb over. Far below me were Lac de Capitello and, later, Lac de Melo and Lac de Rinoso. On the climb up to Col de Rinoso I came across two girls unable to proceed because there was a horned cow on the path. I did the gentlemanly thing and pushed it away with my trekking poles so we could all continue. When I did reach the Col de Rinosa I found Neil and Josie just starting lunch, so I joined them and we shared food again. We were briefly joined by yet another two Belgians, Rob and Marie, who were most impressed with my peanut butter, which they had not tried before.

The final part of the day's walk was a rocky downhill stretch to the Refuge de Petra Piana. The Refuge was beautifully located to enjoy the magnificent mountain views now that the fog had cleared.

After I had pitched my tent I had a job to do for Rob. The sole of one of his boots was starting to detatch from the upper, a problem that I'd had earlier on the trail. He'd seen how successfully I had repaired my own footwear and asked if I could do the same for him. I duly obliged.

There was a choice of routes the following day. The regular route involved descending 800m down a valley, and then having to climb 500m up again to the next Refuge de l'Onda. The alternative route stuck to the high ground and included a bit of ridge scrambling, which seemed wholly more attractive. Which route to take depended mainly on the weather.

By the time I had retired to my tent for the night, the strong winds of the previous night had already returned. As darkness fell the winds got stronger until the tent was writhing and buckling under the pressure. It is difficult to get much sleep when you are worried that your flimsy canvas protection might let you down at any moment. As it happened, the tent held together, although one end went slack because a guy rope had dragged the rock it was attached to. Other campers were not so lucky and spent the night having to re-peg their fragile abodes.

The wind was still blowing hard in the morning, which made packing the tent away difficult. I asked Tom whether he thought the high route was still feasible. His view was that the severity of the wind was partly due to the location of the campsite, and that there was a good chance that it would be safe on the hills. He was right. Whilst it was still blowy, the wind wasn't severe and the walk to Refuge de l'Onda was enjoyable and not particularly strenuous.

It was only 11.30am when I reached the refuge, which was too early to stop, so I decided that I would continue onto Vizzavona. However, leaving right away would mean that I would not be able to say a proper farewell to some of the friends I had made along the way, including Neil and Josie, and Rob and Marie. I had some lunch, filled my water bottles, checked my maps and generally fussed around for a bit, hoping they might arrive.

It was not to be. Getting to Vizzavona would take 6 hours, so by 12.30pm I had to leave. Neil and Josie have my email address anyway, so I guess we might be in contact later. The departure from l'Onda involved another steep climb and it took me over 2 hours to reach the summit of Punta Miratella at 2,141m. The walk down from there was rocky and difficult, and I was particilarly careful not to have another fall. The descent seemed endless and often involved walking across huge rock slabs pitched at an angle and relying on boot friction to walk across. Lizards seemed to enjoy basking on these slabs and scurried away as I aproached. Eventually the path improved and I started to come across people out for a casual country stroll, which meant I must be close to a populated area. Finally, I reached the road and walked to la gare de Vizzavona (the railway station, where many people join and leave the trail).

I passed the campsite and found the 'Bar-Restaurant la Gare de Vizzavona', a Gite d'etape where I booked demi-pension. Sitting on a table outside with several other faces I recognised from the trail was Tom, who had also decided to do a double stage. He would be going home from this point and was pleased to see me before he went. Apparently, he had scratched 'Go, Steve, Go' across the path to encourage me, but I hadn't seen the message and it would probably have been obliterated by the footfall of others anyway. He kindly gave me his last packet of camping food as he no longer needed it.

The Gite was not the nicest place I had stayed at and the landlord/owner seemed bad tempered. I shared supper with Bertraud from Lyon, France, who was in the same dorm. He had arrived today and asked if he could walk with me in the morning.

At least the breakfast at the Gite was good. Whilst waiting outside to commence Wednesday's walk, I found an old pair of discarded boots left by the railway platform. I had been told that the GR20 destroys boots and this was not unusual.

The walk from Vizzavona to E Capannelle was the easiest yet, with generally good paths and modest climbing. Bertraud was two years younger than me, but had not been well in the past, and struggled a bit to keep up. Nevertheless, we still made good time and, at Bertraud's suggestion, headed for the Gite u Renosu at E Capannelle rather than the Refuge. This was a good move as the camping was cheaper, they had a hot showers and the food was excellent. They also had electrical power so I could charge my electronics and keep writing the blog (but still no WiFi).

Another benefit of the Gite was that few other hikers seemed be aware of it. The only other GR20'er was Adrienne, from Australia, who had set off from Calenzana the day before I did. We compared trail notes over drinks on the terrace, and the Gite owner thoughtfully brought us a plate of olives and charcuterie.

E Capennelle is a ski resort in the winter and I pitched my tent between a hut and a snow plough to give it some shelter from the wind, tying one of my guy ropes to its track. I didn't think a snow plough would get dragged in the wind.