Day 5…6/7/25…12.4 miles…5000 ft gain…Onda to Manganu…Stages 8 and 7
Today we did stages 8 and 7. The North really starts at stage 9 but for the sake of making it simple I’ll split these 2 posts right in half. Stage 8 was great, downhill from l’Onda and then cruised through a beautiful forest before a stiff climb up to Petra Piana. In the forest there was a handful of stone huts where you can buy cheese and charcuterie. Bummer we went through there so early before the cheese slingers were open.
We ate a bunch of peanuts and drank soda at Petra Piana before attempting the notorious Stage 7. This is one of the stages I’ve been pretty nervous about and it lived up to the hype. While it was quite intimidating to me, it was also incredible to be up in these gorgeous mountains. There was a fair amount of scrambling, some boulder hopping, and climbing with the use of a built in chain. A handful of times we had to cross snowfields, some spicier than others, and fortunately we’ve been carrying our micro spikes for this very occasion. I feel like some things look sketchier from a distance and when you get to it, it’s not quite so bad. Maybe just a little sketchy.
It was a long descent to the refuge and it felt great getting thru a challenging section. There was a river with pools to swim in next to the camp so QB and I spent about an hour swimming and relaxing by the water. Seriously A++ for swimming holes on this trail. Dinner was a can of tomato sauce and a package of spaghetti that we bought here at the refuge and cooked with the stoves they provide. Took forever to boil the water!
Day 6…6/8/25…20.8 miles…5040 ft gain…Manganu to Tighiettu…Stages 6 and 5
Stage 6 was so cruiser, I loved it. Most of the morning we were walking thru lovely flat meadows and definitely earned it after yesterday. Felt like I was on some of the easy stuff on the PCT. After the meadows was little rocky ridge with some good views.
We stopped for lunch at a little store at Castel de Vergi at the bottom of a ski mountain. Ham and cheese and butter on a baguette, a French classic. After lunch we started on section 5 that was packed with people cuz I guess it’s a Sunday? Also a very pretty area and there’s hiking and rock climbing and swimming and cheese for sale and what not. For most of the section we walked up into a really cool canyon. I swam in the headwaters of the Golo, the longest river in Corsica.
Originally we had reserved a spot at refuge de Ciottulu. This was halfway through section 5 and we wanted to continue to the next refuge. No sweat, we checked in and they said that it’s fine to change your reservation. So if you’re reading this blog as a how to manual-just remember that. We continued to a pass and dropped down a steep descent, then got a 1 mile head start on section 4. The upcoming 4 and 3 have been looming over my head as the hardest parts of the trail. I heard there’s a lot of snow and they’ve got me a bit nervous. Fingers crossed it goes well. *Oh yeah, dinner was a couple cans of ravioli bolognese topped with leftover Corsican cheese from lunch and a bag of gummy bears.
Day 7…6/9/25…8.7 miles…5572 ft gain…Tighiettu to Carozzu…Stages 4 and 3
Man, these are the days! I did not want to hike either of these stages, I also didn’t want to skip them, I just wanted them to be done. There is a fair amount of fear mongering about how hard and scary the north is. And it worked on me, but I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, “Never trust a southbounder.” Still it was maybe a little scary and definitely hard. The main reason we hiked north was QB’s strategic decision to give the snow a few more days to melt and it was genius. Everyone has been telling us how steep and how much snow we’ll have to traverse but it’s been really hot this past week and a ton is melting every day. It would have been much harder going with the herd.
The wind was howling overnight and I was not looking forward to being high on a steep pass in the blistering wind. It almost completely dissipated as we started to walk this morning. Then QB saw 2 feral pigs along a ridge across a ravine from us. These weren’t the same as the wild boar I saw back on day 2 but looked more like they escaped from a farm, far far away from where they live. I took this as a good omen. We then scrambled up slabs and reached a scree field where there was a pair of perfect wooden hiking sticks on the ground so we each took one. At the refuge we had even tried to buy a pair of hiking sticks to help with the snow but they were sold out. There would be barely any snow but the sticks helped us out a bunch on walking on the loose scree.
We got to the top of a pass, Bocca Crucetta, then traversed up to the shoulder of Monte Cinto, the tallest peak in Corsica. The way down was super steep, but there was barely any snow and we just went very slow and carefully. There was hardly anything that was exposed or uncomfortably airy. It was crowded as we descended and we must have seen hundreds of hikers going up.
About halfway down I saw 2 guys sitting on the side of the trail and 1 was taking his own pulse so I figured something was up. None of us spoke the same language, not even close, but QB and I talked to him with our google translate app and he was having chest pains and had an elevated heart rate. He was 73 and pretty uncomfortable, there was no way he was walking out of these mountains. QB climbed back up trail a bit to the next group of people and found someone to call for a rescue. I stayed with him and then the next woman to get to us was a french speaking cardiac nurse. What are the chances, including QB, 2 cardiac nurses show up while you’re in the middle of a medical situation? She took over the scene and by this time a handful of hikers had gathered. We transferred care and our job was done so after an hour of being on scene Sara and I were basically told we should continue down the trail. This was one of those too many cooks in the kitchen situations and after the guy took an aspirin he was feeling a bit better instead of declining and his heart rate was coming down.
As we walked out we watched the helicopter fly up the valley then lower a couple of techs on a cable and eventually pull up the patient in a litter. He was in quite a precarious position and it would have been impossible to land a helicopter. Plus the whole scene unfolded next to a huge spire so it didn’t look like the helicopter could even get that close. They got it done though. Very impressive! It took me and QB another hour and a half to descend down a steep slope with a bunch of class 3 and 4 scrambles, some with built in chains. At the bottom of one scramble was a puddle of blood. We later learned someone made it into the refuge at the bottom with a head wound an hour before us. At the parking lot at the trailhead, the helicopter was unpacking the chest pain patient just as we were getting there so we checked in on him and he was doing ok.
What a morning! We got sandwiches for lunch at the bottom of Asco Stagnu ski mountain and were on to our next objective: Stage 3. This was a 3 mile section that the book said should take 6 hours. It didn’t quite take us that long, sure was tough though. The first mile climbed almost 2500 feet and then we traversed a ridge and descended even further. I watched one guy fall right in front of me and crack his head, it didn’t seem so bad and he had a bunch of people around to hold his hand so we were dismissed quickly. Didn’t need to have 2 medical aids today.
Finally made it to Carozzu which feels like the busiest and maybe the grossest campsite of the trail. We got the very last tent site down in a gully. If this were a rafting trip we’re in the groover spot.
Day 8…6/10/25…12.8 miles…3823 ft gain…Carozzu to Calinzana…Stages 2 and 1
GR20 wasn’t letting us off the hook easily, Stage 2 was rugged! We slept good in our little hobbit hole then climbed out of the tent and then thousands more feet directly up a steep mountain pass. From the first pass we had to traverse along a rocky ridge with lots of little scrambles up, down, over, under and around rocks. We got to another pass and began a long and tedious descent towards refuge de l’Ortu and the end of the segment. This was basically slower than 1 mph territory.
We had crepes for lunch at the refuge and then were on to finish this thing. Stage 1 isn’t ‘easy’ for us but if we were going south it would be way harder. It’s a massive effort because you’re basically climbing up 5000 ft in 7 miles, into the mountains from near sea level. For us it was all downhill. Still kinda tough though. There was about a mile of it that was lots of downhill scrambling, some with chains for assistance. What didn’t help was we had to keep waiting for people climbing uphill. Watching these people going uphill on their day 1 was like watching lambs going directly to the slaughter. I felt bad for these suckers, some of them just didn’t have a clue what they were in for. People kept asking us how long until the top, in French. A long way baby lamb, a long way.
Next there was about 3 or 4 miles of dusty trail downhill to Calinzana. Other than being exposed to the hot sun it was easy walking. At the bottom we passed through a gate and into the town of Calinzana and that was that. No fanfare or nothing. We walked through the town, stopped at a little store which is basically where everyone starts from and started hitching. Quickly we got 2 rides and got into Calvi on the northwest coast of Corsica where we’re staying for the night. A well deserved nice meal, shower, laundry, and a bed. Couldn’t find any of that wild boar stew though.
Final thoughts:
The GR20 was tough! I was in good shape going into it but other than that I didn’t really know how hard it was going to be. I would say the terrain isn’t that far off from doing a high route in the U.S. Logistically it was easy to get food, but I’m not a fan of having such limited camping opportunities although I understand why this system exists. Water was easy. Swimming was excellent. Everybody showers and does laundry here daily-I’m not doing that. I take baths when I can and put on the same smelly clothes and wash them at the end like real hiker trash. Anyway I recommend this trail if you’re in for a challenge but maybe not before early June.
Thank you for reading! Make sure to go back to the first half if you haven’t already
Endless P Summer 