[pct-l] GR20

[calliger@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Richard)]

Yes..but I don't recall the trail designators...we hiked
for two weeks in a "z" fashion so as not to cross Corsica
per se but to remain in the interior as much as possible
on the first trip; and then we crossed on the second trip.
We hiked twice over the high point (6000' or so) in mid-may
and did have about 1" of snow at the higher elevations.
The 2nd trip was in Sept. and we had several very
"interesting" -- read that pee-producing! lightning storms
that never seemed to end. All my other comments below
pertain to the May trip.

Since it was not far to go lower, we never had a problem
with the cold. In fact it got into the high 70s/low 80s
most days and 40s in the evening...

Don't miss the "pinnacle" formations outside Ota...and
the Hostel we stayed at one night...was nice except
the food we ate thru translation was probably boar meet..
very tough and heavy...way too much...but one nice thing
we did not see one Mcdonalds...but we did not spend
much time in Bastia or Ajjacio either. We had no problems
with resupply but you had to adapt to the local
diets of high carbs. Water was everywhere it seemed..
the many little streams made it very easy (we filtered
and considered it mandatory with the overall low sanitation
prevelant on the island).

Enjoy!!! The only thing I would do different is to plan
at least 3 weeks for Corse next time! The scenery is
as spectaculars as the PCT and CDT combined IMHO, and
the AT too!! I don't not make that call lightly,
given the geology flora and fauna of each, each are spectacular
in their own rights.

We did also take a major side trip, and I will try to find the
map -- but it was outside of Ajjacio (sp?) where there
8000+ year old carvings of alien-like creatures and
some very interesting OLDER carvings in the cliffs. We
hitched and had no prblm gettings rides on old trucks
that seemed to predominate the interior. (As well the
many Mercedes and beamers that whizzed by.)

We camped "au savage" but I understand
there is serious consequences if you get caught (like
jail time???) -- so we usually made our sleep camp after
dark and broke camp before dawn and had no problems..
(which was a problem the second trip because it got dark
around 11PM or midnight and light at 5 AM!!!) but we saw
no forest-gendarmes (sp?) at all! Probably because they
were fighting the separatistic movement in the cities..
a restaurant we ate at in town was blown up the week
after we were there. But the French were at least
considerate..performing the dirty deed
at 2AM so no one would get hurt!! So much
for Napoleonic-strategy on the birthplace
of Napoleon.

Transportation was easy because we did cross the island
on the 2nd trip and had booked on a ferry arrival on one side
of the island and departed on the other. For the first trip
we hitched back.

If you don't speak their French/Corsican have someone
versed in English (in Nice) write this down before
you get to the Ferry ticket window as they did not
have any translators available and it is difficult to
get across the idea of a split ticket.

Finally, the ferry ride itself-- was over 8 hours, so I would
see if the hydrofoil is available for the extra 200 francs
(about $40USD) well worth it...especially since we had
unsettled seas. But the return trip was cancelled/delayed
by a day with VERY strong storms on the Mediterranean..and the
next day we still had wild seas..about 8-10 foot/8seconds-10
-- which was at the margin of their sailing...but they went and
it subsided..but there was a galley full of sick people..about 150!
that was quite an unfortunate sight.

We completely fell in love with Corse and would not hesistate to
do a third trip. In fact we flight reservations into Nice for
June 11 of this year and might make the jaunt for a day or two,
but our main effort will be to hike the Route du Napaleon up
into the Alps toward Grasse behind Nice and Monaco.



At 01:35 AM 4/21/03 -0700, Happy JO wrote:
>A tad off-the-topic question:
>
>Has anyone hiked the GR20 through Corsica?
>I am planning on beginning this trip in mid-June, and
>am interested in the snow pack on this trail at this
>time.
>
>Happy 'JO'
>
>
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