The first day on the GR20 was for us definitely “a shock to the system“, as Paddy Dillon describes it in his guide book. At 04:00 in the morning, we woke up to the sound of many deflating sleeping mats, and started our adventure at around 05:30.

We were super excited to start this hike and also quite nervous, because we did not know what to expect yet… were we fit enough to thru hike the GR20? Was this trekking really so tough as many say? All we had to do was to set off and start hiking, one step after the other, to discover the secrets of the rugged mountains of Corsica.

At 06:00, while climbing, I started doubting our decision: “What on earth are we doing here? Couldn’t we stay at the beach for once and relax during our holidays?“.

Nevertheless, we kept going and eventually arrived at the Refuge Ortu di U Piobbu.

The camping was a spectacular place overlooking the valley, where we experienced the first thunder storm in the afternoon and enjoyed our dinner at sunset.