'My journey over the mountains was very entertaining. I past (sic) some immense ridges and vast woods. I was in great health and spirits, and fully able to enter into the ideas of the brave rude men whom I found in all quarters.'
James Boswell, The Journal of a Tour to Corsica, 1765
Mer et montagne
‘Une montagne dans la mer’ is how Corsica is often described, but ‘a range of mountains in the sea’ would be a more accurate tag. Rising to 2706m (8876ft) at its highest point (more than double the height of Ben Nevis) the island’s interior comprises a vast jumble of snow-streaked peaks, wind-scoured granite ridges and deep valleys reminiscent of continental Europe at its most rugged. Imagine such a wilderness surrounded by a cobalt-blue sea and a string of shell-sand beaches, with views that on clear days extend to the distant Alps and Tuscany, and you’ll understand why many regard Corsica’s landscapes to be quite simply the most astounding in all the Mediterranean.
For trekkers, this trademark juxtaposition of ‘mer et montagne’ presents a mouthwatering prospect. Preserved by a century and a half of depopulation, the island – despite the annual deluge of 1.75 million visitors that streams across it – has largely escaped the kind of development that has blighted much of the Med. The rivers that crash through Corsica’s old-growth pine, chestnut and holm oak woods remain crystal clear, the forests teeming with wild boar, and whole chunks of the shore still blissfully roadless. It’s no exaggeration to say that in Corsica you can walk for weeks without ever encountering a truck or a highway. Moreover, even the most remote nooks and crannies may be reached along waymarked trails. Exploiting the network of ancient transhumant and mule paths that formerly connected valley systems, the routes, cleared and marked by the Parc Naturel Régional Corse (PNRC), are ingeniously conceived and a joy to follow from start to finish, taking in the very best of Corsica’s diverse topography.
GR20 and other walking routes
Justifiably the most famous among the waymarked itineraries is the mighty GR20. Keeping close to the line of the watershed, the route, often claimed to be the toughest of its kind in Europe, wriggles via a series of dramatic ascents and descents through the heart of the Corsican mountains. Around 17,000 trekkers attempt it each summer, carrying full packs of gear and provisions, sleeping in or bivouacking near isolated mountain huts and washing in ice-cold stream water. The pay-off for such privations is a non-stop parade of amazing scenery encompassing ice-encrusted ridges, glacial lakes, huge moraines and grassy stream banks grazed by herds of wild horses. You’d also be unlucky not to catch sight of Europe’s most elusive mammal, the mouflon, a rare mountain sheep that survives only on the high ridges of Corsica and neighbouring Sardinia.
At lower altitudes, a choice of other waymarked routes thread more sedate but no less rewarding paths across the island. Dotted with beautiful red-tiled stone villages, they wind through a rural hinterland little changed since medieval times. Almost every night halt is punctuated by a gîte d’étape or inexpensive hotel where you can bunk down in clean sheets and tuck into a carefully prepared four-course meal of local specialities. Corsicans are deservedly proud of their simple but delicious cuisine – based on fresh, home-grown produce, honey, wild herbs and chestnuts – and the restaurants of the interior are the best places to sample it. Every settlement, no matter how small, also boasts at least one café, on whose plane-shaded terrace you can kick-start the day with a coffee-and-croissant breakfast.
The island’s uncompromising gradients may make for some strenuous trekking, but this is one place in the world where your trip into the hills really will feel like a holiday – not least of all because of the weather, which from May until October remains dependably warm, dry and sunny. And if all this weren’t incentive enough, all the routes featured in Parts 4-8 finish within easy reach of the coast, ensuring you’ll be able to rest up after your trek on some of the most idyllic beaches in the world.
Using the guide
The aim of this book is to help you get the most out of your trekking trip: to make the planning easier, avoid wasting time and energy once you’re on the trail and interpret the country you’ll walk through. It’s split into four main sections. The first tells you everything you’ll need to know before leaving home. Part 2 introduces Corsica itself, setting out background on the island’s history, culture, society and wildlife, as well as giving advice on more down-to-earth matters such as making phone calls and booking accommodation. Featured in the third section are practical accounts of Corsica’s main towns, at least one of which you’re bound to have to pass through en route to or from the hills.
Parts 4-8 go on to describe the trekking routes themselves. The five we’ve chosen cover the most distinctive corners of the Corsican mountains, along with an especially beautiful stretch of coast in the far south. Each of the route descriptions begins with a general introduction outlining the trek’s relative merits and challenges. From then on the account is broken down into stages, or étapes, sketching out the terrain you’ll cross on any given day and giving practical information you might need along the way, notably where to eat, sleep and find water, and how to reach other parts of the island by public transport.
Trail maps
Our sketch maps are designed to be used in conjunction with the large-scale topographical maps published by IGN (the Institut Géographique National) – not to replace them. However, they include detail you won’t find on other maps, such as walking times, accommodation (marked as a black square), view points, water sources and complicated junctions. Everywhere to stay within easy reach of the route is also marked, be it a hotel or un-staffed hut. Further details on each place can be found in the text.
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