Day Nine on the GR20 - Vizzavona to Bergeries de Capannelle to Col de Verde

Seeing Double ... Again

After doubling up stages seven and eight by circumstance rather than design and finding the experience worked quite well we had a good look at the rest of the route to consider whether we could do the same again. The situation was a bit complicated because the weather had become unsettled, but the next two stages looked promising so we decided to have a go. In fact our plan evolved to run stages thirteen and fourteen together as well, but more about that later.

To facilitate moving quickly and also to minimise Di's problem with her hip we decided to leave our camping gear at Hôtel Monte d'Oro and return for it after we finished the GR. We had rung ahead to make a booking at the Refuge de Verde (and also at the Auberge de Col de Bavella but were unable to get through to our other intended overnight stop at Refuge d'Usciolu) to ensure we had a bed for the night.

It was amazing how much gear we were able to pillage from our packs to leave behind. Again a lesson for us in our evolving attempts to travel as light as possible without running the risk of suffering hypothermia. We put the two boxes of stuff that we were leaving behind in storage, settled our bill at the hotel before going to bed and took a fantastic breakfast tray up to the room (this would prove to be the best breakfast we had on the GR and indeed during our whole stay in Corsica).

Ticking off the first bit - Hôtel Monte d'Oro to Bergeries de Capannelle

The guidebook tells us this about getting from Vizzavona to Capanelle:

• Distance: 16 km
• Total ascent: 1000 m
• Total descent: 335 m
• Time: 5 1/2 hours

Our link across to Bocca Palmento from Monte d'Oro had a lot less ascent but more distance so it was a little easier than coming up from Vizzavona itself. Here's what the stage looks like on a screenshot from Google Earth, with the route marked in yellow:

Hôtel Monte d'Oro to Bergeries de Capannelle

Unfortunately it wasn't a fine day like the one when the satellite photos were taken to put together this imagery. In fact it had rained heavily on and off all night and when we started a little bit before first light with our head torches turned on the air was fairly cool and damp with rain threatening. Being the optimists we are, we ambitiously set off with our raincoats in our packs. They didn't stay there long as its started raining almost immediately, and did so off and on for the next few hours. (Because of this you'll see relatively few photos of today's walk, and nothing in the way of great views.)

A good series of open tracks, including the Sentier de la Femme Perdue ...

Good to know that we're going the right way ...

...led us across towards the Bocca Palmeto. Before the track reaches the col itself the forest gives way to open maquis vegetation. After having been sheltered amongst dense tree cover we suddenly realised it was quite windy as well as a bit wet. We hurried up to and over the bocca and were pleased to find more sheltered conditions down the other side. I paused long enough to take a photo on a bit of a shelf when the sun peeked out momentarily. You might just be able to make out a trace of rainbow in the centre of the photo ...

A welcome break in the clouds

Our hopes of seeing some good scenery lifted. The guide promises "some wonderful views ahead of Monte Renosu and its neighbouring peaks". Almost immediately though the sky again darkened ...

The best view of the day

... and our chances of seeing anything for at least the next couple of hours were dashed. The morning continued cool and showery as we descended the open slopes below Bocca Palmetto towards forest ...

Traversing towards the Bergeries d'Alzeta

Before long we were above the Bergeries d'Alzeta which are located in a lovely spot on the hillside ...

An idyllic setting

The bergeries were all closed up and it looked like they were finished for the season ...

All quiet at the Bergeries d'Alzeta

A couple more hours of walking through forest and up and over two easy ridges followed before the descent to the Bergeries de Capannelle and the little ski resort that is located here. It had stopped raining before we started our descent but a cool wind was blowing so we stopped in at the Gîte U Fogone to warm up. We thought it was a bit early for lunch but were tempted with a hot drink and a piece of the delicious-looking chocolate cake - and were served enormous slices!

While we relaxed with our hot drinks and that fantastic chocolate cake the cloud cover had broken up a bit more but it was still very windy. We had a brief discussion about taking the high variation over Monte Renoso. At 2352 metres it is one of the six highest peaks in Corsica. One big attraction for Di of going this way was the lure of the pozzis  on a shelf below the Punta Cappella. Given the cold wind that was blowing and the strong chance of more rain we reluctantly opted for the main route which was a little shorter in distance but had far less ascent and descent, and would be much more sheltered if the weather did turn nasty. So, off we set on Stage 11 from:

Bergeries de Capannelle to Bocca di Verde

About Stage 11 the guidebook says it "traverses forested slopes for most of the day. Although there are some steep and rugged ascents and descents, these are quite short and for most of the time the gradients are gentle, and the paths and tracks followed are quite easy". This sounded pretty good. And with these numbers ...

• Distance: 14 km
• Total ascent: 320 m
• Total descent: 620 m
• Time: 4 1/2 hours

... we thought we could knock the second half of the day off without too much stress. I've got a couple of Google Earth images to show you for this stage. The first is just the regular plan view with the route sketched in yellow, which illustrates the amount of forest cover that this stage traverses ...

Some open country but mostly forest

The second image I've made is a perspective view, and I have drawn the route over Monte Renoso in red. If we ever go back to Corsica we will probably drive up to Capanelle so we can cover this terrain, as it looks just so lovely ...

Two options exist for Stage 11

Actually, I'll add some notes about the image above. If you enlarge it, in the background you can see text identifying the locations of both La Foce (Hôtel Monte d'Oro) where we started the day, and Vizzavona. Off to the right you can see the small town of Ghisoni. (In case you didn't click on the link, I'll tell you that this charming village has gone from having a population of about 2,000 souls in 1900 to about 200 nowadays.) Di and I drove up through Ghisoni from the east coast after we finished the GR to go back to Hôtel Monte d'Oro to pick up the stuff we'd left behind. The road climbs spectacularly - and tortuously - up a gorge.

Back to the day's walking? Okay! As you can see from the next photo, once we got through a bit of open ground and down in the forest we were sheltered from the wind enough to strip off our warm tops. We had to get a photo of this gnarly old tree root, still alive, with steps cut into it forming part of the main track of the GR20 ...

Walking on wood?

While there wasn't anything really remarkable about the rest of the day, it was very pleasant and kept us off the streets. Occasionally we'd cross a quiet stream like this one ...

Stream crossing

... with the mostly well-formed track sidling across a series of big blunt ridges through forest ...

A section of beech forest

From time to time we'd come across a cow or two grazing ...

There isn't much to eat, so make the most of it!

I just remembered that not long before taking this photo we came across some guided groups. Travelling north, they passed us just after we'd had lunch. The interesting thing was that we started to notice a bit of a pattern: most of the time we'd seen guided groups we'd see three of them at a time, generally separated by anywhere between one and ten minutes. Today was no exception. Three groups of about a dozen punters in each mob, separated from each other by about two or three minutes.

Anyway, the rest of the stage passed pretty much uneventfully and we found ourselves at the Bocca de Verde by mid afternoon ...

Another day; no, another GOOD day ...

The gîte is detached from the actual restaurant. One of the distinctions about gîtes compared to refuges is that the former often - but not always - has individual bunks. We were pleased about this on two counts: we had our own window close at hand for ventilation (the French seem always to close all the windows in the refuges and it can get pretty stuffy) and we'd arrived early enough to choose beds that were located near the entrance, making it easy to get in and out.

After selecting our bunks we were delighted to discover that there were also hot showers. A bit of a rest and then up to the restaurant for refreshments. On a sunny day the terrace of the restaurant would be a lovely place to hang out, but it was cool and cloudy again by the time we arrived ...

On a sunny day they fire up the pizza oven; but not today sunshine!

Thomas, Francis and John from Dublin arrived after a little while and we enjoyed a couple of drinks with them before dinner, which was a real treat the centrepiece of which was lamb chops cooked over an open fire ...

Master barbecuing in the mountains of Corsica

And that was about it for Day 9 on the GR20: about 30 kilometres, roughly 1100 metres of ascent and 950 metres of descent over 8 1/2 hours. A very pleasant if somewhat unremarkable day out. The morrow promised more spectacular scenery if the weather co-operated so we looked forward setting out once again - nice and early of course! - in the morning.