After packing up our tents and eating a small breakfast of bread, jelly, and hot chocolate we headed out for the long day's hike. We passed horses that had brought supplies up to the bergerie the previous evening, then headed into the shade of pine trees as we descended the valley. Somehow, once the trail started climbing again, we got caught among a group of 6 or so hikers who were maintaining a very fast pace. We kept up for a mile or so, but Markus decided he had no interest in joining the "Pyrenees Racing Team", which became this group's nickname. I wanted to try to keep their pace, at least for a while, so I took a walking break, eating a protein bar when the terrain allowed it. In addition to the beautiful vistas — up toward Paglia Orba, across to i Cinque Frati, down the valley toward Calacuccia — what kept me going was the thought of the cool, juicy apple I had in my pack for lunch. I managed to stay with the group until they stopped for a rest where the trail crossed the crystal clear Foggiale stream. That was enough racing for one day, so I took some pictures while I waited for Markus.The trail going up to the col was the usual mix of slab and scree, with a few short snowfield crossings to keep things interesting. The Bocca di Foggiale is wide and flat, and was windy and cool when we reached it. Being just below Paglia Orba, this part of the GR20 affords some spectacular views on a clear day. For the views alone, this was one of my favorite sections of the hike.
It seems that an unofficial route is being followed directly down the eastern slope of the valley to the Golo River, skipping the refuge, the western ridge, and the steep descent to the river. This alternate route makes some sense if plans are to skip the refuge, as it shortens the hike by a mile or so. But you also give up the chance to hike up Paglia Orba and Capu Tafunatu, and miss some good views of the Mediterranean to the west.
So we took the official route across scree and through scrub towards the Refuge Ciuttulu di i Mori, then stopped for a long lunch at the refuge. We debated hiking to the summit of Paglia Orba, the second highest peak in Corsica and purportedly the best vista point on the island, but in the end decided just to hike up to where the Golo River starts, between Paglia Orba and Tafunatu. Some day hikers had climbed high up on Capu Tafunatu, threading the needle on some narrow dangerous path, and we watched as they made slow progress down.Back at the refuge we met with Tintin and Snowy, who were planning on making the summit. We told them we would reserve beds for them in the gite d'etape since they would be getting there pretty late.
The half mile after the refuge is perhaps the first section of the GR20 (from the north) that is simply a packed dirt trail. Up until then we had been on every possible type of rocky terrain, and always either ascending or descending. On this reasonably level, wide open section of trail Markus misplaced his camera case. I stayed with his pack as he doubled back a bit (it's open and flat enough on this ridge that I could see him the whole time). He retraced a few hundred yards, came back empty handed, then checked his pack again to find that the case was just a bit deeper in his pack than he thought.
Heading down off the ridge towards the Golo River the trail gets steep and suffers from massive erosion. This is perhaps the reason many hikers followed the alternate route down the opposite side of the valley. Once the trail met the river the going was much better, and there were many opportunities to stop for a rest at large rock pools. My family and I had visited this part of the valley on our trip the prior year, and it was nice to be in somewhat familiar surroundings. The following two days would also be in regions that we had visited on our previous trip.We followed the river down past the Bergeries de Radule in the scorching sun, taking a rest in the shade of a large solitary laricio pine. Eventually we reached the valley forest where the trail was a bit hard to follow and seemed to go on forever (it's just about a mile though). When we got to the Col de Vergio we found out that the gite d'etape was full and that, as the Brits had mentioned the day before, the hotel did not take credit cards. This presented a dilemma as we had promised Tintin and Snowy we would reserve their beds, we didn't have alot of cash to spare, and there was the possibility that they would stay at the Refuge Ciuttulu di i Mori. If we reserved a room for them but they didn't show up, we would barely have the cash to pay for tent spots at the following refuges. If we didn't reserve a room they would be stuck out in the cold, as everything else was booked and hikers continued to arrive. We decided to take the chance and book a room for them, then had a good three hours to second guess our decision as we waited for them to arrive. We didn't dare even to buy a Pietra, the cash was so short. I suppose this is a good illustration of how expensive the hotels are relative to the refuges. I think a double room was 70€, whereas the refuges and bergeries were 4€ to 8€ depending on whether you stayed in a tent or in the refuge.
Tintin and Snowy did finally arrive as the sun was beginning to set. They just had time to stow their packs and clean up before dinner was served. According to them, the hike up to the summit was worth it for the great views but had taken a bit longer than they had expected. We had a big dinner of soup, ravioli, and salad (not so traditional Corsican, but good none-the-less). The hotel's dining room had nice views of the Valdu Niellu, although the immediate vicinity of the hotel was a bit ugly.
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