Our walk continues with a 20 -mile day in the GR20, the magic of the path and skinny immersion. In addition, this corctica through the preparation of walks for AT?
Day 4
Vizzavonna Prairie Refuge
20 miles // 3599 feet lifting gain
Colorful morgids
Alarm 5 am, so we can have an hour to rummage in the camp, sip instant coffee and move in our mats like colorful worms. The darkness is wrapped around the camp like a blanket when we leave the Prati shelter, a crimson splinter crossing the horizon. Sunrise. What a magic show.
After a brief decent, we entered the COL DI Verde shelter. The little kiosk is still closed when we get there, some hikers are preparing to start late. I pick up a butter stick and a little map of albicoque from someone’s breakfast leftovers and extend it thick on a flour tortilla while the water for my coffee boils.
High of caffeine and sugar, we continue the longest day (in distance) that we will do in the GR20. 33 kilometers – 20.6 miles. Fortunately, the path is mainly under the tree line today. A postponement of the scorching sun, dozens of sobos pass us, a man with two transport mules supplies the mountain.
Motivated food?
For lunch we stop at a sad skiing elevator, but the shelter there serves a party that is far from being miserable. € 12 pizza and 3.50 carrot salad boxes. Combined offer what our bodies yearn: calories and nutrients.
We are excited by our next stop, Vizzavonna. Although we continue to remember that it is not a city, the place is famous for the only food store in the GR20 and the train station where people rescue to enjoy the beach instead of the curves.
The descent towards the promised replenishment seems endless, my quads are getting tired, but I can finally listen to cars, then the path crosses a road and the buildings appear between the trees. We did it.
City day
For a while I stay in front of the only edible shelf. Overwhelmed by the choice. Nutella or peanut butter? Protein or almond bars? What flavor of chips? The shelters on the path sell a small amount of things, but there are generally no options to take. You get what you get. Pasta, pasta sauce, giggles, peanuts, salami, cheese and maybe a little fruit.
The post arrives and we occupy a picnic table with our treasures: Cheddar chips, hazelnut chocolate, peaches, local cheese. The foot of the foot arrives, wearing tired of the descent but equally happy. The train arrives and moves away at least two dozen from abandoning hikers.
The small camp in Vizzavonna is right next to the train station. Nobles, sobos and chitters congregate here and we barely find places for the Cowgirl camp, it is very full.
Do we need luck?
To my surprise, almost all camps and shelters offer showers included in the € 9 hivouac rate (€ 18 if you do not reserve in advance). Today only one of the three positions is open, there are 3 types ahead in the row.
«Where are you from?» Asks a young boy with puppy eyes. He tells me that he will resign here, he will take the train to the coast, he will enjoy some vacation.
«Good luck,» he smiles at me before closing my shower. Good luck. Do we need it?
Despite the multitude of people, the camp is calm at 9 pm. Midnight walker internationally, it seems. Tomorrow we start the North Section, the difficult. Where people renounce or raise the air or all get orthopedic devices. We have seen so many knee straps.
But people are hard cookies and we too, right?
Day 5
Vizzvonne to take refuge the wave
7 miles // lift gain of 4094 feet
Espressi recovery
«When are we?»
Toe shrinks and brush the pain Au chocolate crumbs from his fleece alpha. Small rags of espresso coffee are filtered when you don’t drink quick enough.
My metabolism has been activated and I can steal food in my body without stopping. We start the day with cold cans of beans and ravioli in our comforters before packing and lodging in the camp store.
9 have passed when we get to the road. Late.
However, only 11 km today. Our only «relaxed» day of this walk. 1200 meters ascending.
How not to wet your tent
The steep and rocky climb is followed by a steep and rocky descend to l’enda. Pole and I tried to update the weather forecast on our phones, waiting for better news.
«A lot of rain between 5 and 8 am»
«I might ask me if I can rent a tent,» I say, nodding towards the field. I am fearing the idea of waking up in the wet mud under my canvas tomorrow. My bivy / custom land sheet is still in process.
«Maybe we should all obtain rentals and then our things are dry tomorrow,» suggests pole
Seat. The shelters have decathlon launch tents in the camp that are available to rent. They are like dark and resistant saunas, but not too bad if you want a lighter package. Or I want impermeable insurance.
Toe and Mosey appear and present our plan for the night.
«Sunrama de Pajamas,» smile.
The refuge l’enda serves Minestrone soup for starter, a lasagna made with spinach, local ricota cheese and mint, followed by blue cheese of sheep’s milk and dry honey cake. Toe and I cook in our small gas stoves before we all drag in the rental tents.
For three, they are a bit tight and when I turn around, brush my feet knee, but I don’t care. It seems that we have all been sleeping next to each other for years. Like a small herd of animals that move through the mountains.
Day 6
Take the wave to take refuge hose
12 miles // 5357 feet lift gain
The favorite day of all
Tap-tap. I listen to the half rain awakens, half asleep. Tap-tap-tap. I fall asleep. The next time he wakes me up, the rain has become an aggressive blow. «Let me enter, let me in, leave me in» it seems to say. But our nylon sauna tent is resistant and dry. I hear that Mosey and the feet change in the dark next to me we are fine. Go back to sleep. There are no walks yet.
A few hours later I look at my watch. 07:47. The rain has stopped. The weather forecast was perfect. When we opened the zipper, most tents had already been shot down and hikers had left early. Large puddles of rainwater remain around the camp.
«How was your night?» I ask Simon that he had slept in his Trekking pole store.
«I woke up at 4 in the morning because some boys left and then they stayed in the picnic area while raining»
«Oh,» I frowned, but Simon seems to be in a good mood, as always.
GR20 is like the AT?
We put the five on a humid and rocky path of the forest (they give the vibrations! Our triple crown queens say) and they stop some miles later in a Bergerie, where grumpy men sell coffee and cheese and homemade sausages. Then, the GR20 rises along a river. Deep swimming holes seem to attract tired hikers, call their names, attract them to stay.
«If you want to swim, swim,» he says toe and look at Pole and my expectant. His bright blue eyes are radiant.
«Yes!», We draw a small waterfall, we start our sweaty clothes and immerse ourselves in the clear cold stream. The weather had become completely, a baby baby appears through the tree canopy.
Find the gold from the mountain
Refuge Petra Piana is a simple cabin of the old school, but to our surprise, hikers carry lots of golden fried papers in the patio. Wow, homemade fries? We squeeze small condiments packages on our portions and licen the fat from our salty fingers later.
In the early afternoon, we continue walking, but the second half of the day proves to be a little more technical than the first. I am getting off for a high drop and lands strongly on the left ankle. Too hard. Acute pain shoots me through the leg. Damn. I squeeze my teeth. «Try to go down there,» I move towards pole. He goes down effortlessly.
«Maybe we should wait for others»
I agree, we sit in rocks with a view to a dramatic landscape: irregular peaks and deep blue lakes. Saquero my bag of sandwiches and pushed the peanuts without my mouth.
The foot of the foot appears and we walk until we reach an steep part where a metal chain has joined to climb.
«We have to wait, nobody should do this alone.» The three warm us the jackets. It’s already 5 pm and there are still a few miles from our destination today: Manganu.
«I will send a text message to Garmin,» says Pole, none of us says aloud that we are concerned about night hiking in this technical field.
Magic of the path
While we wait, an agile boy has been going down the chain. Its dreadlocks are thrown under a bright orange arcterxy hat and wears matching shorts.
«Hello»
«Hello»
For a moment we only smile at each other.
«Could you give a message to our friends and tell you that we are waiting for it? What are you called?»
«Of course, I’m Jasper. How are your names?»
«Toe»
«Pole»
I smile, we are making trail names then. «Pineapple»
Jasper looks at us fun.
«And what is the name of your friends?»
«Mosey,» we answer simultaneously.
Jasper disappears along the way and no more later, our missing friend appears.
«Mosey», our voices resonate in the mountains. Jasper found her and even gave her the snacks. Gathered, we climb the metal chain and climb the rocks before starting a long and rocky descend to the shelter.
Our night routine of small dinner pots begins before we drag in our shelters (the camping cowgirl) and try to recover from the day that was the most beautiful and the most challenging. Until now.
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