• Refuge Paliri – Conca
• August 2023

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This was to be our final day on the trail which I think I can honestly say I was really looking forward to.  Although the scenery had been fantastic and at times the hiking exciting, the food (or lack of it), the sleeping (or lack of it) and toilet facilities (or lack of them) and 15 full on days of really hard trekking had taken its toll.  It would be wonderful to be finished.

Getting up today was exciting.  Lots of thoughts were going through my head, relief being one of them.  Nevertheless we knew we still had a long hard day ahead but today was a good day.

We were glad to be leaving this campsite.  Once again the facilities were poor.  The refuge itself was basic including squat toilets and its ‘washing station with a shower’ involved a 100m steep and rocky decent (then ascent back to camp) down the valley from the refuge, with flip flops on…quite frankly we didn’t entertain that so we remained unwashed.

We left camp once again with a kitkat and lion bar each for breakfast and lunch due to there being no food available, not even a stale baguette unfortunately, so today we would have to make do as we have done on many occasions.  We did have a huge chunk of cheese and peanuts in our bag but unfortunately last night it got stolen and we caught the culprit red handed…a fox had sniffed out our goodies at our tent and as we returned he was certainly enjoying what he had found to our utmost disappointment.

We also left camp without visiting its toilet facility.  Toilets, I use that term loosly as all but two campsites have had squat toilets and most have been pretty disgusting.  The smell coming from them and the standard inside them are very very poor and unhygienic.  This is causing major problems around campsites and on the trails with people defecating anywhere they can find which is definitely not good for the environment.  I can understand this is a very remote hiking route but considering the money its national park is making from tourism (hikers) basic standards and I’m meaning basic standards need to be implemented. I’ve hiked in Nepal before with better conditions. Its pretty shocking actually.

I have decided to put a filthy picture up of a toilet which we were expected to use, the only toilet in camp and this was its standard and many other toilets where similar.  I do not apologise for posting the picture but I feel its the only way to highlight how disgusting these facilities were which the workers did not seem to care about and we were just expected to put up with it…which we did as we had to!

On leaving camp today it felt good.  There is something special about the mountains here but I am not going to lie I was looking forward to arriving in Conca, finding some comfort and recovering a bit further down on the beautiful Corsican seaside. There was a slight element of sadness I guess that the adventure was over and on leaving this majestic kingdom of mountains behind…but mostly it was a relief!

I will miss the simplicity of  walking to the next refuge each day and the amazement and joy of looking back to see the vast distances covered and grand elevations conquered.  I will miss the added awareness of how far our bodies took us under pressure each day and on numerous times thinking we hadn’t another day left in the tank but we did it again and again and again.   I will miss the pure happiness of sharing simple food when we could find it or finding a pool of water to wash in…a simple life can be a good life.

This last bit of trail did not disappoint us.  It had its own specific landscapes from forest to a plateau of large granite boulders to splendid sea views with the coastline that seems to be bordered by paradisiac beaches.  It of course had its huge ups and downs and hours worth of hiking right to the very last moment.  But the scenery was stunning and the weather gorgeous.

The vistas of craggy spires disappeared and reappeared throughout the day as we plunged back and forth into the forest and re-emerged along the open ridges and passes.

At Bocca d’Usciolu we passed through a narrow break in the rock, almost like a door and this would be our goodbye of up close and personal views of these mountain vistas.   We were now heading downwards to Conca.

We passed by some heavily loaded hikers who were starting their GR20 adventure from South to North. Once passed us we turned around to observe them while they slowly made their way up into the mountains. We looked at each other and smiled with relief knowing we had done it and wondered if they’d ever complete it. 

The GR20 I had come to realise was an achievement and not a holiday.  It involved a high level of physical and mental fitness. It also involved strenuous itineraries including steep ascents and descents over rough and varied terrain in the higher mountain regions and it also included some exposed areas, fixed ropes and lots and lots of scrambling.  It had involved hard trekking every day carrying our own belongings/backpack along the route for an average 8-10 hours of walking per day. And we had finally made it. We had made it to Conca…180km done…the GR20 aka ‘Hardest Hike In Europe’ or infact one of the Worlds toughest long distane hikes was now complete!

Hope you enjoyed our last video above 👆 of the GR20 🙏