Calenzana to Refuge D'Ortu Di U Piobbu

I arrived on the island of Corsica yesterday, after many connecting flights, from Chicago, and a short taxi ride from the airport near Calenzana, my starting point for this trek. I grabbed a quick dinner with some other hikes who were staying at the same Gîte, and then settled in for a restless night of sleep in anticipation of starting the trek early tomorrow morning. I can't wait to be back in the mountains.

I nearly quit on the first day.

The windows had been left open all night to keep a breeze going due to the mid-summer heat, and it was comfortable but still warm in the room. So, with little sleep, I began packing up. I ate a simple breakfast of yogurt with cereal, a banana, and some bread and butter that I had purchased yesterday at the local grocery store. I started the thru-hike at 6:30am.

The trail started going up right away, and it didn’t hold back. While this wasn't a high elevation I was having trouble catching my breath due to all of the steps up on the various switchbacks. Admittedly, I had not done any training other than taking my dog Dax for walks along the lake, and maybe the occasional treadmill workout. Big mistake. My Garmin watch told me all I needed to know: my heart rate was staying steadily in the "endurance" zone, 5 of 5. I took a break at every turn or corner in the trail in order to catch my breath.

But all this didn't stop me from taking as many pictures as I could.

After two and a half hours of marching upwards I reached a Col and saw that the trail was starting to go down, and staying level. This didn't last long though, and upon ending the initial descent through the trees the trail started to go back up again, but only this time it decided to throw in something new: scrambling. Did I stretch this morning? Of course not.

More scrambling and climbing up rocks. Eventually the trail came to a bald on a mountain and I could see my destination for the night in the distance. There were more ups and downs in order to reach the Refuge but they weren't bad, and didn't last long. I made it to the refuge and found a spot to pitch my tent for the night. It was exposed to the elements (no shade or vegetation) but that was the way this particular Refuge was set up.

There's a lot of people here, it's going to be busy on the trail, and at the refuges, but that's good: more opportunities to make friends. Oh, and there's tons of little lizards running around, plus three cows who keep tramping through the area with the tents. I hope they steer clear of mine.

I had a really fulfilling dinner with people from Germany (Denis), Netherlands (Peter and Tyezet), and Belgium (Charlie and Sophie). We would end up walking and camping together for the next 9 days.