2023 Corsica GR20 | Today Is Not a Good Day to Die — My First Solo Hike From the South Part 1
(All photos are taken with Pixel 3 or GoPro 10 without filters.)
“I think, at my best as a maker, I’m always on my way towards something. I don’t want to arrive anywhere.”
— Ocean Vuong at City Arts & Lectures
Two summers ago, while I was sipping limoncello and spacing out in an outdoor bar in Catania, Sicily with a couple of people I met from the hostel, a series of photos caught my attention and pulled me back to reality. Natalia, a lovely French woman who was working at the hostel where I was staying, was showing another girl stunning photos one after another.
“Where is this?” I had to ask.
“It’s GR20. In Corsica.” She said.
“What? Where is that?” I’ve never heard of Corsica before.
Just like that. After some Google search, I said to myself I’m going to hike the so-called one of the most challenging trails in Europe someday. Back then, I’d only done one long-distance hike in my life. I didn’t consider myself a hiker. I’m still not sure what drew me to it. Perhaps the challenge. Perhaps the scenery. Perhaps the idea of walking somewhere unknown. Two summers after, with another long-distance hike (Kom — Emine) and a lot of partying as my stamina preparation (yes), I took myself to Corsica and spent 15 days walking through the famous GR20.
Date: 2023/07/22 — 2023/08/06
Direction: Conca — Calenzana (south to north)
Distance: *My GPS got interrupted during the way so it didn’t record the whole thing but people say it’s around 180km?*
Base weight: 6kg (gear list at the very bottom)
Total backpack weight: 10–11kg
Favorite Refuge: Refuge de Petra Piana
Lost: a hat, two food bags, two soaps, my heart
Gain: a lot of good stories, nice ass and legs, tan lines, my heart
Only the photos are chronological. The stories jump between the past, present, and future.
Day 0 “Tant Qu’il Est En Route”
Bastia Airport — Conca, Gîte La Tonnelle
“I want you to write me a message when you’re finished.”
Officially, my school ended on Friday. By Saturday morning, I arrived at Bastia airport in Corsica, ready to take on a hike that I’d been preparing for two years. To be honest, I didn’t feel ready. Not for any particular reason, but simply the fact that I was heading into the unknown.
It took me 8 cars and 2 hours and too much heat under the sun to arrive at Conca from Bastia. Hitchhiking has been delightful in Corsica throughout my stay as I never needed to wait for more than 10 minutes for each car. I ordered an oversized burger dinner for myself. I’m always like this on the trail, fearing not knowing when would be my next meal so I overdid myself. The night was warm. The woman behind the counter wished me luck with my GR20. I thanked her and climbed into my tent which hadn’t been used since last summer, realizing how much I missed lying in my tent, and fell asleep.
Day 1 “What the Actual Fuck”
Conca — Refuge de Paliri; 6h14m
The hike started out nice, smoothly, and early. I followed the advice of many previous hikers to start walking in the early morning to avoid the heat and the potential afternoon storm. The humidity stayed. “Sweat, baby, sweat, baby, sex is a Texas drought” was the song that got stuck in my head. I still haven’t learned how to sing the whole song.
I arrived at Refuge Paliri early enough to pick a good camp spot and build myself a lovely home. Getting some Corsican cheese and sausage from the refuge made me feel like a half-Corsican. The night was very windy till the point I thought my tent was going to be blown away. Fortunately, my grey shelter held up the wind strongly yet I was almost sleepless.
Day 2 “Yves and Brigitte”
Refuge de Paliri — Refuge d’Asinau; 15.6km, 7h45m
“I believe in life, people meet twice.” She said to me while we were sunbathing by the Neckar River. In hiking, if you’re walking in the same direction, you would probably meet each other a lot more times than that. By the moment Yves helped me to take a photo of me in front of the view, we would continue meeting each other all the way until I left Corsica, with Brigitte yelling my name before I entered the airport security, with Yves entering my Gmail contact exchanging photos.
We thought life was linear. That we got wiser, the age number added, and we grew further away from our old self. But maybe life was never linear but a circular motion. Sometimes it’s an oval or irregular shape but we revolve around the same questions of who am I and where am I going. We circulate, sometimes upwards, sometimes downwards but we always revolve.
“Bon courage!” A random person said to me before I stepped into the shower.
“It’s very fresh!” We all know fresh is just another word for fucking cold in the showering context.
That evening I crossed the road with another Taiwanese woman Yu, the only Taiwanese I’ve ever met on the entire hike. We walked in the opposite direction and her hike was about to end.
“They all say it’s difficult but I think the mountains in Taiwan are much more difficult.” She said it with a breeze.
I shared my tea bag with her; she told me about how her food bag got stolen one morning. Little did I know I would encounter the exact same thing during my journey in the north. Twice.
Day 3 “Chin, Today Is Not a Good Day to Die”
Refuge d’Asinau — Refuge d’Usciolu; 10h
The day started out with some thunder and drizzle. It worried me as there was some scrambling right at the beginning. I stopped for a moment when it started raining, unsure if I should continue. Thankfully, the weather cleared up and I heard some voices in front of me. It was Yves and Brigitte.
By the time I arrived at Bocca Stazzunara, I was hoping to take the alpine variant so I walked straight into that direction until I heard Yves calling my name. He told me the variant was closed, pointing to the big “fermé” on the sign that I was unaware of. I hesitated for a second since Yu told me she just walked from the alpine variant yesterday.
Yves shrugged. “Maybe yes, maybe no.”
Then he added, “Chin, today is not a good day to die.”
I laughed and gladly turned to another direction, taking the lower altitude route. The path turned into rolling green. I stopped for pear pie and tiramisu as my brunch and lunch.
The last section to Refuge d’Usciolu was scary. The combination of scrambling and strong wind was not something I was ready for. The wind knocked me off balance several times. At some point, I needed to squat down and hold on to a big rock next to my feet just to steady myself. If you knew me, you would know that I’m petrified of any windy situation on the mountain. This was definitely not something I wanted to go through alone. I met some hikers going in the opposite direction but none was going the same way. I struggled for the last 2 hours with sand and dust covering my entire being but hey today is not a good day to die. Eventually, I arrived at the refuge after a 10-hour hike with a dusty soul.
At the Refuge d’Usciolu, everything was a mini hike, from the begerie shop to the showers. Let’s walk more. I spent some time securing my tent with big rock/little rock and more rocks since it was nearly impossible to stake down your tent in this rocky terrain. But everything was alright with this view as my backyard.
Day 4 “You Can Follow Us”
Refuge d’Usciolu— Col de Verde; 15.8km, 8h43m
“I’m a mountain guide. It’s going to be dangerous because of the wind. I know another way. You can follow us.”
I overslept that morning because I had my earplugs on, hoping to have a good night’s sleep despite the wind slapping my tent. I forgot if I succeeded or not but it was another very windy and cloudy morning climbing up. I needed to stop walking at some point and steady myself with my trekking poles.
He chased up from behind with a heavy Corsican accent. The words arrived at me a few seconds delayed because of the wind blowing but I gladly joined the long line and was no longer alone. Moments like this make me want to cry but it was only 8 in the morning. A bit too early for an emotional let out.
The altitude had come to 1950m at 8 in the morning and we were still going up. Where are we going? A sudden gust of wind knocked us off balance. A very dear friend of mine once told me to count to 10 before I say anything. Maybe that works for deciding to do something like GR20 also. Count to 10 before I try something like this. What am I doing to myself? But I’ve been counting since two years ago. Passages like this send me into a deep silent meditated flow. Just like the way from High Camp to Thorong La Pass when I was walking the Annapurna Circuit Trek in Nepal. Uncomfortable weather conditions but you somehow know each step will take you closer to somewhere different so you keep on lifting, putting down, lifting your foot, one after the other. We passed the windy section finally and I was glad that I wasn’t alone. He let me pass the line as he knew I had a slightly faster pace than the entire group.
I followed the advice from a hiker that I met on the way, changing my plan and continuing after Refuge de Prati to Col de Verde, which the hiker called “a heaven”. Things are always a bit exaggerated on the trail but I will take it. Later that day, I met the guide again in front of the hut. I asked for his name and expressed my genuine gratitude.
“It’s nothing. I’m always a bit afraid to see people hiking alone.” A said.
“I wanted to see GR20. If I waited for someone to come together, I might never come.”
He nodded, “I understand.”
And that was it. Moments like this make me want to cry. Just a simple understanding. No lecturing. No sharing his own personal stories. No nothing. Just an “I understand.” Sometimes that’s the most difficult thing to do. He invited me for a drink with his group of hikers after dinner. Before we knew it, he pulled out the guitar and we were already singing under the light of our headlamps.
Day 5 “Are You Happy?”
Col de Verde — detour to Fontaine d’lsolo — Capanelle; 19.1km, 8h25m
“Are you going to the north?”
“Yes”
“And you walk alone?”
“Yes”
I’ve reached the point on the trail where are-you-going-to-the-north has become a usual greeting among the hikers. My solo appearance has resulted in either concerns or compliments. Both make me feel awkward, not knowing what to reply even after 10 years of traveling solo. Yet, I was never alone. Look at that group of hikers with A that I got to say hello every now and then on the way.
The dinner at Col de Verde was lovely; roasted lamp with eggs and eggplants. Now I knew why he called it heaven. People talking, drinking, and laughing in a warm cozy hut. I almost forgot I was doing a difficult hike. A asked me if I had a map with me after dinner.
“I’ll show you where you can go tomorrow.” He pointed to a few little blue dots on my Gaia map, apparently not a part of the official GR20 route, at least not on my map.
The next morning, I made my detour to these blue dots, walking alone, until it opened up to a gorgeous valley with many other hikers there already. I spent an hour sunbathing at Fontaine d’lsolo, making myself a cup of tea, dipping my feet into the water, writing down some more words, and mostly, enjoying the incredible view that wasn’t part of my initial plan. Life seemed to be very good.
Day 6 “Gonna Take Her for a Ride on a Big Jet Plane”
Capanelle — Vizzavona; 4h55m
“I want you to write me a message when you’re finished.”
The walk to Vizzavona felt like a light breeze compared to the previous days. “Big Jet Plane” was on repeat. I wandered on my way to Vizzavona, marking the end of my southern part of GR20.
Morrissey once said,
If you’re so funny,
Why are you on your own tonight?
And if you’re so clever
Why are you on your own tonight?
And if you’re so very entertaining
Why are you on your own tonight?
And if you’re so very good looking
Why do you sleep alone tonight?
I know
‘Cos tonight is just like any other night
That’s why you’re on your own tonight
A wrote down his name and numbers on a piece of paper from the refuge reception desk. I don’t remember when was the last time someone wrote me their numbers on a piece of paper. This is the kind of old-school romance I need in my life. I couldn’t promise I would write because I didn’t know if I would finish. That is something you can never be sure of. But I folded that piece of paper neatly and put it inside my waist pack, next to all of my important documents.
(Later on the trail, I would write down my email and Instagram on a piece of paper to two other hikers because we had no reception. “Things you do on GR20” as F would call it and we absolutely enjoyed doing so.)
Vizzavona is a very small place because Yves and Brigitte got to yell my name from the other side of the town and I saw them waving at me. I resupplied myself at the well-stocked grocery shop on my camping ground and ordered, again, a burger dinner to celebrate the end of the first part of GR20.
There is something very beautiful about walking for days, months, and years. There is something very beautiful about having someone walking on the same path as you, even just for a short while. There is something very beautiful about someone wanting to know if you have arrived at your destination or not. There is something very beautiful about making sure these old-school romantic people still exist in this world.
Because in the end, Jeff also said,
It’s so easy to laugh
It’s so easy to hate
It takes guts to be gentle and kind
Over and over
For the following journey, please view 2023 Corsica GR20 | Today Is Not a Good Day to Die — My First Solo Hike To the North Part 2
Gear list
Backpack
- Atompacks The Mo Custom 40L
- Atompacks The Roo VX
- Osprey Hydraulics 2.5L Reservoir
Shelter
- Gossamer Gear The One
Sleeping system
- Hammock Gear Eco Burrow (20F short wide)
- Sea to Summit Aeros pillow
- Forclaz MT500 Air Trekking Mattress S
- MSR Groundhog*6 & Shepherd’s hook*4
- Polycro Groundsheet
- Extra guy lines
Clothing
- Haglöfs L.I.M Essens Down Jacket Women
- BD StormLine Stretch Rain Shell
- Black Diamond Women’s Trail Trekking Poles
- LOWA Renegade GTX Mid
Electronics
- Anker Power Core Essential 20000
- Garmin inreach Mini 2
- Anker PowerPort III Nano charger
- Petzl TIKKA Headlamp
- GoPro 10 with Media Mod and battery
Cooking system
- WindMaster Stove
- TOAKS 750ml & 375ml
- Sea to Summit Long Handled Spork
Other
- CIRCE CARE Pee Cloth
- First aid pack
- Toiletries: toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, microfiber towel, sunscreen, lip balm, soap, face cream, toilet paper, wet wipes, Sea to Summit Wilderness Wash Biodegradable Soap
- Miscellaneous: notebook, pen, whistle, Swiss Knife, Trekking the Corsica Gr20: Two-way Trekking Guide
