Day seven and Stephen and I separate as he bypasses another day that the guide book advisers against if you suffer from vertigo. He headed back to Chucky and down the valley, to rejoin me again half way through day eight. Quentin and Blanche had left early as they were combining day eight and day nine, so I wandered slowly up the valley, whilst it steepened and narrowed as it reached the Breche de Capitella at 2.225 metres. It was a time to stop and reflect as my eyes are drawn to a 360 degree view of the highest peaks in Corsica and the deep blue of the still waters and the perfect refection of the surrounding mountains in the Lac de Capitellu just 200 metres below.

The route followed the steep mountain sides, climbing up and down through small gullies. The ridge and the scrambling is a joy to walk, a little exposed in places, which Stephen might have had trouble with, but for me, I was on a high, I loved every minute of it. I was annoyed that the GR20 no longer went through the Cirque de Solitude, which I believe was the jewel in the crown of the trek, but this was me, not too hard, so it scared me shitless, but hard enough to keep me on my toes…and the views, wonderful. Eventually I came to the Bocca Muzzella at 2,206 metres, from here it was downhill to the Refuge de Petra Piana.

The Refuge was one of the highest at 1,842 metres, so I was prepared for a cool night. again I was camped on an extended pallet and it was one of the most comfortable nights I had on the whole trek. I was camped next to Arthur and Edward, two guys who had been with us from the beginning, two very English names, Edward had spent the first 22 years of his life in Bolton as his Mother was English but now lived in France, I’m not sure what Arthur’s liniage was, but his English was perfect.

They had originally started out with Arthur’s Father but he took a stumble a couple of days back going head over heal and had hurt his head and leg, therefore decided to retreat home to a cooked meal and warm bath. Edward was very helpful as my grasp of schoolboy French was decidedly worse than when I was a schoolboy! Shameful, really. We were to leapfrog each other for the next few days and his help was invaluable and their stamina made us look like OAP’s!

Day eight was a low-level short day, after a steep descent from the Refuge de Petra Piana the path levelled out following the river along the valley floor through a pine forest, with those wondrous deep turquoise pools.

Eventually I reached the Bergeries de Tolla, a source of Coke, Cafe au Lait, Cheese and Bread…all my dreams had come at once. From here I could contact Stephen, he was on his way and would be with me by mid afternoon. After the Bergerie the path steepened as it made its way through the forest to the Bergeries de L’Onda and our campsite. I reached there just after lunch and Edwards French saved me again, to my embarrassment as he arranged Stephen and my camping pitch and our evening meals.

Stephen was good to his word and arrived at 3pm. It was great to see him again. The campsite was full to overflowing as was the dinning room. In fact it was crowded to the point of being uncomfortable as was the meal itself! I’ve had worse, but not very often, one of the dehydrated meals would have been far more appetising. The night, like a number of the others, was spent fighting a slope, sleep was fitful and my stomach was growling for a steak.

Day nine was, besides the initial climb to the main crest, fairly straight forward and on the way down I managed to get that swim in one of those deep turquoise pools, refreshing, probably polluted the stream, but I felt invigorated and clean! The rest of the walk down to Vizzavona was down a path frequented by swimmers taking advantage of the sunshine and the deep inviting pools. We were no longer on a path that belonged solely to GR20 walkers, we were in the land of the day trippers! People, too many people, the one good thing about that is that we knew we were near our goal and the comfy bed and an à la carte menu. At Vizzavona we were halfway in distance along the GR20, however, time wise we were well over halfway. All the guide books tell us that the walking gets easier from here on in.

To finish in 14 days we needed to double up. So day 10 took in stage 10 and stage 11, together they were a 30 kilometre stage. The GR20 had compelled me to walk at a snails pace, through unrelenting scrambles and climbs. So a walk of 30 kilometres appeared to be a tall order, as it happened a 10 hour tall order. Stephen and I walked together for most of the day and the half way point at Bergeries d’E Capanelle we treated ourselves to a pizza and Stephen a beer and me a latte! The second half was even easier to Refuge di Verdi, probably the best Refuge we stayed at along the whole trail, a level pitch, great food and reasonable showers.