GR20 Day 1 – Calenzana to Refuge de l'Ortu di u Piobbu

Hey all,

Astonishingly difficult morning – amazing views, but hard. It levelled out at lunchtime, I stopped – a couple of English guys showed up – we looked at the map, thought there might be a bit of a climb then basically the refuge. An Aussie couple travelling with a Spanish guy showed up too – he was sure we were almost there - “A few undulations, then the refuge,” he said. As it turned out none of us could read a map. The few undulations turned out to be undulations in the sense that occasionally you did not have to hang on with your hands – from time to time you could just stand. Two hours of that. Spoke to K on the mobile, which was lovely – was at the point where I was just laughing.

Anyway, at the refuge now – got even more ruthless chucking stuff away – ate dinner with the nice English couple – pork sausages and lentils, then cake. Was fantastic. They left when I did, got to the refuge at 1:30, and by the time I got here at 4:30 they had already scaled a nearby mountain. They are, as I pointed out last time, in their sixties. Glad I did not listen to them about the water last night though – went through the full three litres. Anyway, tomorrow is supposed to be worse. Reckon after four days I will be fine – just got to make it that far. At one point this morning we were passed by a bunch of guys in the Foreign Legion (we think) – so we are almost that tough. Of course, they were going in the other direction, so were nearly finished. And they were running. And they were not out of breath.

No signal here – will miss talking to K tonight – and hope she does not worry about me. What sort of world is it when I can't go to some mountain on an Island without losing the signal?

Photos: The little paint-marks you don't want to go more than a few minutes without seeing. A couple of views from what we thought was the top of the climb. Then a shot of the track, just around the corner a bit. Then later, looking down, then looking up from the same spot – see the little paint-marks indicating the track? Then another down, showing the Spanish guy finding out what a “few undulations” on the map translate to in real life – he is in the centre of the shot. Finally, I can see the refuge – it is right in the centre of the shot and you probably can't make it out at this resolution, but it is there – there appears to be a chasm and a cliff before I get there.

Cheers, B.