An Incredible Challenge: Preparing
An incredible challenge launched in the form of a joke, as if to ward off the fate of passing time. A challenge that my son takes up...We will leave together...His girlfriend will follow us in this adventure...There will not be too many of us to encourage each other. The dice are cast, we have 9 months to prepare...Logistics, materials, accommodation, period, physical preparation...
During these 9 months, we will do everything to make this adventure a success. If many set off in the footsteps of the GR20 for the sporting challenge (take less than 10 days, less than 8 days, less than 5 days...why not beat the record) for us, only the trip, the adventure, the sharing this moment makes sense. Take your time (finally!! as far as possible :)..)...enjoy every moment, admire the fantastic landscapes that can be seen in all the videos on the subject. So it's decided, we'll do one stage per day, 15 in total...the GR20 is cut in this direction...That's good!!
The first thing to do is to buy the GR20 topoguide (Across the Corsican mountains)... You will find all the main information you need to know before embarking on this adventure.
So !! after reading it you know a little more...all you have to do is adapt your adventure to the information you have read on the Topoguide...you can also watch videos on "Youtube" for example to realize the difficulties you will encounter. The 2nd thing... choose a departure date... for us it will be 06/22/2022. It's not easy to set a date when there are several of you...between professional and family constraints. It is however essential in order to choose the means of transport for arrival in Calenzana departure of the GR 20 North.
How to reach Corsica??...Train, plane, boat, personal car, Bla Bla car...Make the right choice...in any case, you have to plan ahead, not only to get better price but also to be sure of having space on public transport. It would be a shame to miss your adventure for lack of space in one of the means of transport you have chosen. We will choose the train from Toulouse to Marseille...departure at the end of the morning...My partner will drop us off at Toulouse station.
Five hours by train later here we are in Marseille St Charles. We have 2 hours of margin to reach the port. It takes a quarter of an hour's walk to reach the Quai de la Joliette ferry terminal from St Charles station where we have to collect our boarding tickets. The ferry picks up pedestrians from 4:30 p.m.
We take advantage of these last moments on the continent to have a drink on the terrace of a café opposite the ferry terminal while waiting for an internal port bus to take us to the ship.
So here we are on our way to Corsica... The GR20 is only a few hours away. At the end of June the rates are still affordable to choose a cabin for the night...much more comfortable than the armchairs that we will have on our return.
But first, a little background. Before embarking, it will have been necessary for us during these few months to plan and reserve the refuges even if we leave with our own tent. It is possible to do it on the official GR20 website...it works very well and we did not encounter any difficulty on the spot. An advantage ... to carry less cash on the GR. On this subject we had planned 40euros per day and per person...20 euros for the evening meal, 10 for lunch and 10 for the morning...honestly it was not too much...And yes!! ..There is the traditional Piétra in the evening to restore morale :)... So that's a lot of money to plan for, there is no credit card on the GR.
As for the equipment in order to have the lightest possible bag (less than 14kg with water)... choices had to be made... you will quickly realize that the bag is your enemy on the GR it is too heavy Here is the list of equipment I brought:
And finally, the physical preparation. A very important point when you embark on this kind of adventure... The GR20 is reputed to be the hardest in Europe. Honestly, I thought it was a bit over the top and that the "youtubers" would "play" it a bit...Let's be clear, it's very physical, especially the first 4 stages...but we'll talk about it later in my next post on the subject.
I train regularly 3 times a week to prepare for marathons or half and that all year round. Mountain hiking requires working other muscles and I decided to modify my training during this physical preparation. The best would have been to hike regularly... But that was not possible. So I replaced 2 days of training usually devoted to interval training with racing sessions on steep paths, on the 3rd day, a short jog for a good hour.
2 months before the fateful date, always 2 sessions on sloping paths + the third day of the walk with the backpack (loaded at 14kg) for 3 hours (the path is flat) This training program is of course adapted to what I am able to do, depending on my level and my age (over 60 years old :) )...I did for the best...I will m realize that it was really the minimum. The lesson to be learned is that this physical preparation is important to take full advantage of your trek, otherwise you will be "hard" every day to suffer and curse the day you decided to do this GR rather than going to the beach :)
To summarize this preparation:
- buy the topoguide
- choose your departure date
- reserve your pitch at the refuges (personal tent, tent rental, refuge)
- provide enough cash for the planned duration (with a little margin)
- choose your means of transport in Corsica (train, plane, car...)
- plan your return (start of GR in the North... end in the South)
- prepare you physically and morally
- prepare your backpack carefully
Here you are ready to face the GR 20 .... good luck to you ... have a good trip and good photos
The continuation of this adventure in my next Post