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| BERTRAUD AT GITE U RENOSU AT E CAPANNELLE |
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| BIG BLACK PIG |
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| CLOUD INVERSION FROM REFUGE DE PRATI |
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| ROCKY WALKING FROM PRATI |
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| IDO HAD THE SAME RUCKSACK AS ME |
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| DEPARTURE FROM REFUGE D'USCIOLU |
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| I WUZ 'ERE (BUT CAN'T REMEBER WHERE) |
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| KIRK & GARRY, FIT AMERICANS WITH A TOTAL AGE OF AROUND 140 YEARS |
It was windy again overnight, but I was well sheltered by the snow plough. I packed my tent and walked to the Gite for a morning coffee. From the terrace I could see a beautiful cloud inversion to the east. Bertraud and I left the Gite and started walking in that direction.
Once again, the path was relatively easy compared to those I had encountered in the north. Bertraud and I enjoyed a steady woodland walk for about three and a half hours until we reached the plateau du Ghalgone, where we stopped at a refuge hut for a brief rest and a drink - a cup of tea for me.
We proceded down a long valley towards Bocca de Verde, with me walking some distance ahead. I suddenly spotted a wild boar, or sanglier, next to the path. I made noises to ensure it had heard me, but it simply ignored me and got on with its own business as I walked past. Maybe it was just a big black pig and I am exagerating a bit.
Bertraud would be staying at the Refuge de Bocca Verde whereas I just had a late lunch there. We exchanged email addresses and I said goodbye as I continued on to my campsite at the Refuge de Prati. This would involve a climb of just over 500m - yes, that really is half a kilometer - which seemed pretty daunting last thing in the afternoon. I managed it in 2 hours.
The Refuge looked down on the east coast of Corsica, and I could clearly see the towns and villages. At last I was begining to sense that the end of the GR20 journey was near. There were still a few days to go, but I guessed that much of the remaining walking would be accompanied by views of the sea.
I pitched my tent behind a large rock, which seemed to do the job of protecting me from the wind. Shortly after the light faded someone patted the side of my tent and called out something. When I opened the zipper to investigate it turned out to be a girl from the Refuge come to collect the €7 camping fee I had forgotten to pay.
In the morning there was an even better cloud inversion to the east than I had seen on the previous morning. Indeed, it was so good that I didn't get to see the sea all day. So much for my earlier prediction! However, the views to the west were clear.
After two relatively easy days, I had assumed that the walking would be much more gentle all the way to the end of the trail at Conca. I was wrong! The day's walk was tough and rocky, and involved climbing to the summit of Punta Della Capella (2,041m), then down to Bocca Lapiro (1,525m), then up to Monte Formicola (1,981m) before finally coming down to the Refuge d'Usciolu at 1,727m. It was an exhausting day on difficult paths, made even harder by the 30+ degree Celsius temperatures. I had drunk almost all my 2 litres of water by the time I arrived at the Refuge.
The late afternoon was spent chatting to Adrienne, who had already been at Uscioli for a while having set off from Prati very early, and new acquaintance Ido, from Israel. Ido had chosen the same design of rucksack as me and was interested in my experiences with it. I wondered if my lack of energy today was due to insufficient food, so in the early evening I ate the Refuge's hearty pasta supper with Americans Garry and Kirk, who generously shared their wine. We didn't stay up very late as it was getting cold.
I decided to use one of the ready-pitched tents this evening rather than my own because they had nice thick comfortable sleeping pads inside, in contrast to my own rather thin one. I wanted a good night's sleep as the following day I would be doing 2 consecutive stages, which would take me in excess of 8 hours.
I was away by 8.10am and for the next two hours had to tackle a long rocky mountain ridge at about 1,800m. Clouds obscured the easterly view again, but to the west, right at the foot of the mountain, many small villages could be seen and further away, the west coast. Descending the southern end of the ridge to a place called Bocca di l'Agnonu, I came to a choice of paths. One path led directly to the Refuge d'Asinau, my intended destination, along the old GR20 route. The other was the new GR20 route comprising two stages, the first to Refuge d'A Matalza and the next from Refuge d'A Matalza to Refuge d'Asinau. I had already decided that I would do both stages of the new route, partly because I had the maps for it and partly because I knew the several GR20 acquaintances would be on this route, but not necessarily doing both stages, so it would be chance to say farewell. So it was the case with Garry and Kirk, who I left at the Bergeries de Bassetta eating omelettes and drinking Orangina.
The path to Bassetta and on to Matalza and beyond was easy, and didn't get rocky until I started to climb Monte Incudine. The steep descent from the mountain ridge down to the Refuge d'Asinau was quite difficult though, but in spite of having been walking for over 9 hours, including breaks, I was still feeling positively energised.
Having pitched my tent, I was starting to think about food when one of a group of four Belgian lads I had spoken to frequently on the trek offered to boil me up some water to hydrate the meal Tom had given me in Vizzavona. It was a very tasty and filling curry, so thanks Tom. In return, I was able to share some of my tea and coffee. Afterwards I chatted to Ido for a while before it got cold and we retired to our respective sleeping bags. Ido was planning to do another two stages tomorrow so I might not see him again.
