• Tighjettu – Castel Di Vergio
• July 2023

---

It was cold again all through the night and getting out of the tent this morning was a real effort as it was still cold.

We quickly made a coffee, packed up and started our decent downwards.  We came across a cleaner refuge where we had some coffee and cake for breakfast. 

From here we then walked through the pine forest on a steady climb up with clear skies and the peaks beautifully lit.

It was all going pretty smoothly until we then hit the long slog up to the Bocca di Foggiale.  Again it involved vertical climbs on bare rock, stony slabs, steep ascents, frequent scrambling, just a normal day on the GR20.  The last section up became a total scramble.

Once at the pass we headed up some more to make our way to the Refuge de Ciuttulu di I Mori.   Here we stopped for a beverage.  This looked like a pretty decent refuge.  We eventually have to leave as it was a long way down.

The descent through the valley of the Golo is steep, stony and rocky in places.  We zigzag down the slopes covered in loose stones and scree. 

We continue walking and a river appears to our left.  Here there are little waterfalls plunging into deep green pools, the thought of taking a dip and basking on the warm rocks looks appealing, but unfortunately we don’t have the time. 

We continue on down and down and down and then cross a footbridge.   We reach the Bergeries de Radule and stop for a drink a little disheartened as we cannot believe we have so much further to go.

There was still hours of walking downhill and then we entered a forest.  Here a stray dog started to follow us.  We had a bit of a laugh or were slightly delirious as we named the dog.  We now not only had the stray dog but we also had Mike the Irishman with us – our hiking family was growing. 

Once again this had been another massive day on the mountains.

Now here I shall talk about bed bugs!  On researching the GR20 before we committed to it we looked at our options of refuges or hiring camp tents.  However there were lots of comments about bed bugs in camps thus the reason we then chose to bring our own tent to avoid this situation.  We did wonder however if these comments were over exaggerated or untrue.  On arriving at the GR20 however we have witnessed with our own eyes dormitories fully closed due to an infestation of bed bugs.  Infact our very own French friend was unaware of this.  He had been carrying his own tent but after 8 days was so disheartened at where he was having to camp he started to really struggle with it.  So a couple of evenings later he slept in a dorm, hired a camp tent and indeed got the dreaded bites!  He was completely unaware and thought he was covered in spider bites.  On being told what they really were the poor fella was mortified.

Eventually we reach our accommodation for the the night, Hôtel Castel di Vergio.  On entering we book in.  Here we are told by the receptionist that we need to take of our shoes and leave them in a locker provided aswell as our rucksacks.  We were only allowed to bring toiletries and clothes up to our room in a bag provided by them for fear of us bringing bed bugs into their hotel.  The mortification and humiliation of standing in the reception area in full view of everyone  emptying our worldly goods into carrier bags as fully paying guests was just another insult to add to the shambolic nature of the GR20.

Hope you enjoyed the video above ☝  😊