The guidebook described the first day of the walk as "a shock to the system ... the ascent is unremitting; uphill all the way. You climb higher than anywhere in Britain, then climb even further". I read this on the bus as it veered dangerously around the north coast of Corsica to Calenzana, the start of "Europe's toughest hike", the GR20.
At the local campsite, as we silently pitched our tent in torchlight, I began to fully appreciated the challenges I would be facing over the next five days: more than 38 hours on foot, 16,435ft in ascent, 12,685ft in descent. "Preparation," the book warned, "is key". Our only preparation had been a "smash and grab" trip to a camping store, and between two of us we'd probably done a combined total of 20 hours exercise in the past year.
The guidebook was right. The GR20 is a very tough walk. Indeed, it is more than a walk, it's peppered with scrambling, climbing and, during the steep descents, shuffling down on my bottom. In parts you rely on your hands almost as much as your feet to scale, ape like, up the tricky ascents. The path is not a reassuringly well-trodden gravel route, but leads, seemingly at random, over giant granite slabs, maquis-matted woods and steep rocky climbs, depicted only by red and white flags daubed on rocks and trees. The landscape seems to change step by step and there is a fairytale quality in it's transition from forest to rock face.
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