Crête des Tourets et Cap de Gauch

A long overdue reunion with Michiel. We set off from the parking at Osque de Couret with the aim of walking the watershed of the Ruisseau des Pics - Calabasse , Cap de Gauch, etc which has a nice narrow ridge between these two main peaks.  We were so busy talking we passed the departure of our path from the second bend of the piste forestiere and continued to climb (in the wrong direction) for a good 20 minutes before we woke up and realised our mistake. We redescended and started afresh. The tiny path that climbs steeply through the pines is unmarked and gets slightly lost amid a myriad of other animal tracks, but we managed to stay on course having made only one small error.

Eventually the trees stop and the landscape suddenly changes at the Col de l'Herbe Soulette. The cows and sheep are still here in the estive.

Pic de Calabasse from the col

It was now very hot without a cloud in the sky nor a breath of wind. The onward route looked quite long and having already lost a good 40 minutes taking wrong turns, we decided to skip Calabasse and instead head for Col de Terme tp slightly shorten the route. We have climbed Calabasse several times before.

View of the ridge to follow - Cap de gauch on the right

Aftrer skirting Calabasse's West face and passing behind the rocky Pic des Agneres, we arrived at Col de Terme. There are fantastic views of the peaks of the Eastern Couserans and rest of the Western Pyrenees from Aneto to Monte Perdido.

The Maladetta massive with Aneto and its small remaining glacier dominate the view

The Westarn Couserans - Valier, Barlonguere, Mail de Bulard, Mauberme and Serre Haute dominating the view

The ridge to follow with Cap de Gauch on the right

The ridge is a lovely airy traverse at times a little exposed but never difficult. The amazing views and Vultures circling overhead were a constant distraction.

traversing Pic de Peyre Nere

The final section to Cap de Gauch

Griffon vulture

A second lunch on the sumit Cap de Gauch before passing a small heliported shepherd's hut and beginning the long descent of Pale de Rase crossing Pics de Pale de Rase Superieur and Inferieur.

retrospective view of Pale de Rase

At the Col de consires we began our steep descent into the pine forest once more - sometimes difficult to find the narrow path under the shoulder high bracken, but the rock outcrop of Côte de Roc provided a reference to guide us. Then at last some shade in the forest until we regained a piste forestiere and shortly afterwards the car. 

 

Corsica - Part 4 home

On leaving Corbara we headed on quick tour through the middle of the island stopping briefly in Corte the capital of the island during it's brief spell of independance from successive rule from France, England, Genoa and Pisa. Then over the pass of Vizzavona to Bocagnano. there were a few hours to kill before our hotel opened so headed up the Richiusa Gorge. It's popular with Canyonists, alas we couldn't go very far without equipment.

Our hotel was comfortable with an amazing view out of the window of the aiguilles of Punta Migliarellu opposite. 

 A final meal before it was time to head for home the following morning.

Corsica - Part 3 Ile Rousse et Monte Tolu

Our next stay was in a tiny appartment in the village of Corbara. First day we headed to a beach at Ostriconi on the edge of the Desert des Agriates - not an actual desert but an area which became overfarmed at the end of the ninetenth century and has since become a protected natural park without roads or development.

Corbara

The following day we visited the nearby hilltop villages of Pigna and Sant Antonino. We had a simple lunch at the very top of Sant Antonio with an amazing panoramic view and were circled the whole time by a red kite - which were by far the most common birds we saw on the island.

Sant Antonino

Our restaurant for lunch

Our next trip was across the Desert des Agriates to the little port of St Florent. It's often called the St Tropez of the island because of the wealthy celebrity yacht-borne visitors. It was pleasant but not really our thing so decided to head onto Bastia.

St Florent

Trying to find somewhere to park proved problematic but eventuallt we succeeded. Bastia is Corsica's main city and had quite different vibe with squares and pedestrianised streets. We explored the old port area, before heading for home and lovely meal out in Corbara.

On our last day in Corbara we headed into Ile Rousse to explore the town which we preferred to St Florent. In the afternoon I headed off to explore the villages beyond St Antonino - Cateri, Muro, Feliceto and Speloncato. I climbed in the car to the pass at Bocca di a Battaglia then made a quick walk over several tops to scramble up the Monte Tolu 1332m.

looking out over Speloncato from the start of the walk with the red Ile Rousse in the distance

Speluncato

The last section of the ridge

Monte Tolu

looking back along the ridge

The weather began to deteriorate so I made a swift return the car.

Corsica - part 2 Bonifatu Forest - Muvrella et Punta di Bonassa

On our first day we we decided to climb up to the Refuge d'Ortu di u Piobbu. A mixture of forest and ridge walking in the granite heartlands and our first glimpses of the high mountains. The Bonifatu is a large pine forest and heat and high humidity made for a rather exhausting 6h30 walk. Susie's toes, still sore and bruised from the half marathon made for a painful descent.

Next day Susie decided to have a rest day, so I opted to tackle Muvrella 2148m. A centrally located mountain with amazing views but a tough 1800m of ascent - some of it on the GR20.  The guidebook said it was a tough 10 hour day but I was keen to test myself. I set out early and reached the Spasimata bridge in about 1h30 well ahead of schedule.

From here on I began to pass the groups on the GR20. I felt fast and light - most of them did have bigger packs - but I was flying along!

After passing through the pass of Bocca Muvrella with a strange rock feature resembling a rabbit's head some scrambling lead down and across to another pass Bocca di Stagnu high above the ski station Haut Asco and opposite Monte Cinto the highest mountain on the island. 

view down the Fangu valley from the rabbit ears pass

From the second col I climbed to the summit following the edge of the rocky crest to arrive in just 4 hours from the Auberge. Spectacular views in all directions.

On the descent I was amazed to pass some of the slower parties I passed in the morning who were still a long way below the first col - a polish guy of 63 living in Boston who said this was his 7th traverse of GR20 and a couple of English guys who were on the verge of giving up having realised how tough GR20 was. The descent took 3h30 so I was very pleased with my fitness given how few trips to the mountains we've made this year.

Day three we chose a slightly shorter walk following the Corsican "coast to coast" walk to summit called Punta di Bonassa 1153m. Another walk mostly through the pine forest before emerging for views to the coast. At our lunch spot we finally had some encounters with fauna!

A distant golden eagle

The Corsican nuthatch

A spotted flycatcher and her fledgling who she was still feeding

Corsica - part 1 the west coast

Our first proper holiday (more than a couple of days) since COVID. A 12 days tour of Western and Northern Corsica with a final dash through the centre. Susie and I met up at Ajaccio. Susie flew from Bristol via Nantes as she had been running a half marathon in Cheltenham to raise money for the Sue Ryder hospice where her sister died and I flew in from Toulouse. First stop Cargèse.

View from the window

The first day we spent on the beach at plage de Péro, swimming and snorkelling. We saw lots of sea bream and a little octopus in the crystal clear waters. Everything in corsica is expensive, especially food which was a bit of a shock - fortunately we had opted to mostly self cater. 

Next day we headed up the coast to Piana and a lovely beach at plage d'Arone.

view across the bay of Porto on the way to plage d'Arone

In the late afternoon we took the road to Porto passing through the amazing Calanques an incrdible landscape of red granite towers and weathered extraordinary shapes dropping steeply all the way to the sea.

On our last day in this area we headed to Porto once more and then headed inland for a stroll along the gorge de spelunca before heading out on a boat trip from Porto to visit the Calanques, Capo Rousso, the nature reserve of Spandola and the village of Girolata. the boats takes you in and out of caves and tunnels through the cliffs. Alas the seabirds for which Scandola is famous were entirely absent. We opted for the high speed Zodiac which was exciting crossing the bay.

A long drive on incredibly twisting roads took us to our next destination the Bonifatu Forest.