Stage 8/9 — Refuge di Petra Piana to Vizzavona

I was awoken in the morning by drops of rain on my tent. The rain had not really started yet, but off to the west it looked to be rather heavy. I went to Markus's tent to warn him that we were going to get a bit wet, then went back to pack up my gear. We stowed our packs under the eaves of the refuge just in time before the downpour. We also tried to stay dry under the narrow eaves (the small refuge bunk house was already packed). When the rain let up a bit we found that the back porch of the bunk house was dry and a bit more roomy. We got on the trail pretty early since the rain only lasted about 30 minutes and we had packed up in such a hurry.

Immediately after leaving the refuge, the trail heads straight down the steep slope into the valley. We soon passed the solo Brit hiker, who as always was one of the first to depart and was going at his own pace. The trail started to flatten out a bit near the vacant Bergeries de Gialgo, and we lost the trail trying to leave this cluster of stone buildings and livestock pens. We generally followed the valley and soon found the red and white blazes. Descending a bit farther past several cascading streams and an abandoned bergerie, we came to the longest, flattest stretch of our walk so far. This walk through the laricio pines of the valley forest brought us eventually to the Bergeries de Tolla where we stopped for a long rest, bought some of the fresh cheese, and watched the family attend to their chores. The weather had turned quite nice after the morning storm, encouraging some day hikers to walk up the valley, enjoy the scenery, and visit the bergerie (and take many pictures). Once on our way we soon crossed the Ruisseau de Manganellu and started heading uphill again. For a while the trail followed an old road. Narrowing to a footpath again, the trail weaved through a predominantly deciduous forest as it climbed up the valley next to the Ruisseau de Grottaccia. We arrived at the Bergeries de l'Onda at noon.

As we ate our lunch (the bergerie had a full lunch menu, but we had our own food) we watched one of the owners herd their horses out of a large fenced in area, which we figured was the area designated for tents. After a short discussion on the merits of sleeping among the horseshit, we looked at the map and decided to continue on to Vizzavona. The morning hike had been easy, and it wasn't yet 1 PM, so I got some hot chocolate and Markus got a Coca Cola before we started the hike back up to the ridgeline.

I would guess that about half of the GR20 hikers take the high (alternate) route from Refuge de Petra Piana either to the Refuge and Bergeries de l'Onda or to Vizzavona. This keeps the walk up in the mountains and bypasses the significant loss in altitude along the official low route. Had we known ahead of time we might have taken the high route ourselves, but I'm glad we stayed on the low path since it offered more variety.

We set out toward the Punta Muratello, our last highest point before reaching Vizzavona. From the Bergeries de l'Onda to the col near Punta Muratello was steadily uphill, and a bit windy. The trail follows along the wide ridge on a sandy path before climbing the last few hundred feet through craggy rocks. At the col there is a small plaque in honor of an outdoorsman and his dog, who died hiking the GR20 in the spring of 2003. After leaving the col we passed a group of day hikers having their lunch. One of them said that she was watching as I climbed up toward them and thought I was carrying "un gâteau" on my pack. Before the Cirque de la Solitude I had moved my bright orange sleeping pad onto the top of my pack, and apparently it looked like dessert.

The trail made its way across the side of Monte d'Oro, then zig zagged down on slab and through scrub. Every once in a while we caught a glimpse of some houses down in the valley, though I don't think they were part of Vizzavona. The open vistas gradually disappeared as we made our way down into the valley. Beech trees and the occasional chestnut provided shade for short stretches, then we'd come out on a large slab shelf for more views down the valley. This pattern repeated itself many times before we finally reached Cascades des Anglais. Day hikers were climbing the boulders, sunning themselves, and exploring along the river, but our knees were aching after the long descent so we did not linger. From the Cascades the path is mostly level, but for us it seemed to be never ending. At last we reached the road, the sign designating the halfway point — GR20 North to our backs, GR20 South in front of us — and the end of our hike.

We got a room in the Hotel Restaurant I Laricci, reserved a table for dinner, then washed off the trail grime. It was my daughter's birthday, so I called home to wish her Happy Birthday and tell my family we had finished our trip a day earlier than expected. Meanwhile, Markus bought us each a celebratory 2-liter mug of Pietra, which we managed to finish just before dinner. We didn't talk much during dinner we were so busy eating. I can't recall what was served, other than the green peas that I inhaled. Having no reason to get up early the next day, we walked over to the local pub, where much to our surprise sat Tintin and Snowy. They had doubled up the stages as well, walking the high route from Petra Piana. We made plans to take the train to Ajaccio the next day to see what the place was like, and to find an ATM that would accept my Visa card.

We returned to the locked hotel a bit late and a bit starfished, without the house key and without any of our gear (otherwise we would have just pitched our tents). Luckily the owner of the hotel must have been accustomed to the situation, because after just a few minutes of us laughing at our circumstances he came down to unlock the door and let us in. We slept very well.

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