Ali and Lay’s Mountaineering Blog

We are awoken at around 5am by the sounds of fellow hikers packing up their gear and making for an early start on the GR20 trail.  It is still dark outside the tent.

The mountain huts or refuges along the route have limited accommodation which cannot be pre-booked.  Places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.  With more hikers than beds this can lead to a daily race along the route and a game of who can set off the earliest.

Safe in the knowledge that our tents exempt us from this fiasco we roll over on our Therm-a-Rests® and go back to sleep.

Our first priority of the day is breakfast and to stock up on last minute provisions.  We call in at the local Spar shop in Calenzana and buy as much fresh bread and fruit as we can eat – we have a feeling this will be the last for a while.

The GR20 trail starts at the top of the village and we are keen to get some of the 1500 metres of vertical height gain under our belt before the heat of the day kicks in. We are soon into our rhythm and the route is well marked.

We play walking leapfrog with a group of four Belgian lads throughout the day – we like to think we have wisdom, pacing and hill experience whilst they have speed, youth, enthusiasm and heavier packs.

It’s a long hard day – a definite baptism of fire.  There are some short scrambling sections along the way but nothing too taxing despite the pack and its nice to gaze back occasionally and see the town of Calvi and the sea beyond it retreating into the distance.

Eventually we arrive at the refuge.  As expected all the beds are taken and the nearest camping spaces to the hut have gone too.  That’s okay as we find a secluded spot half way between the hut and the outside water source to pitch our tents.  Hopefully our location is far enough off the track so as we won’t be trampled in the morning exodus.