When thru-hiking, special encounters are part of the experience. One such encounter happened when one of the Frisian bastards completed the GR20 on the island of Corsica in the months of September and October 2018. It is a story that teaches you always to keep an open mind towards every person you meet and not to be distracted by personalities that behave differently from the social norm. Actually, they might turn out to be your possible lifesaver. Especially when hiking the GR20, which is considered Europe's toughest and most deadly hiking trail. So, if the title of the blog post gives the impression it is about tough men, we must correct it. These are the words of a tough woman.
After seven merciless days on the trail, the bastard arrived at the campsite Petra Piana. Besides hikers, cows also trudged in the camp area. The first thing he did was go to the shed where provisions were sold. It was at the end of the season, and most provisions were sold out already. Luckily, the bastard was able to buy some cheese and sausages, and most importantly, a liter of red wine. While lying on his sleeping pad with the wine, other hikers arrived. Most of them he already knew from the days before. But there was another hiker among them who caught his attention: a woman, he guessed, in her late 50s.
It was the proprietor of the campsite who made an inappropriate semi-sexist remark about marrying her. She responded by saying she was married and was not interested in him at all, etc. From the way she responded, quite loudly too, and how she talked and acted, you could sense she was communicatively different. A bit 'special' or 'extra' and not fully in touch with the people surrounding her. Anyway, the bastard did not pay too much attention to it. He was drinking his wine, eating sausages and smelly but delicious Corsican cheese, and enjoying a wonderful sunset behind the mountains from his sleeping pad.
At the end of the following day on the track, at refuge de l'Onda, she was there again. The bastard approached her to make small talk. However, the conversation was not flowing.
For three more days, the bastard had not seen her. In the meantime, almost no hikers were left on the trail. Most had left the track at the village of Vizzavona, which is the end of the first leg of the GR20. Only very few continued the second leg. Moreover, most refuges would be closed by now, since the month of October was well underway. But at Bergeries Capanelle, the bastard saw the woman hiker again. This time they had a longer chat. Together with two other hikers, they were surprised by the owners of the Bergeries with a lot of free food. It happened to be the day the Bergeries closed down, and they had to get rid of all the remaining food items. The hungry hikers had candy, cake, and even pastries. As much as they could eat. After eleven days on the trail, this was almost heaven.
From then on, the bastard would meet the woman hiker every day in the afternoon for the rest of the second leg of the GR20. The bastard always started very early in the morning. She was, on average, an hour or so behind him. Her name was Anna. She originally came from Switzerland but lived for most of her life in the state of Montana in the United States of America. She also told him that she had ADHD. When she was a child, nobody knew what ADHD was; it did not exist. The only diagnosis was that she simply had too much energy. So, her parents sent her up the mountains of the Swiss Alps every day to ski and get tired to rid her of energy. "That worked pretty well," she told the bastard in a matter-of-fact tone.
“And if the ski-lift didn’t function, I would walk up the mountain.”
Since then she hiked all over the world long-distance trails.
Anna was married to a former American mariner. They had a company together specialized in giving survival training. How to rescue people in the wilderness and up in the mountains. The bastard realized that other hikers might have maintained a distance from her, not knowing she was actually their best safety insurance to have around during the dangerous GR20 trail. As soon as Anna accomplished the GR20, which runs more or less from northwest to southeast across the island, she said she would also dissect the island from west to east. When she said this, the bastard only felt tired and his knees were wrecked during this tough trail. His mind was focused on making it to the end alive and then simply relaxing. Anna was just beginning; she was never ending.
That Anna was from the state of Montana, from the Rocky Mountains where all men wear Stetsons, swear, ride rodeo, spit tobacco, and drink a Cold Smoke Scotch Ale, became clear in the village of Bavelle. It was the second last day on the trail, more than two weeks hiking in the meantime. Bavelle was pure luxury for the bastard. For the first time in two weeks no need to pitch his tent, and an excellent restaurant as well. The bastard arrived early in the afternoon and ordered a steak. Too tempting to stick to a simple lunch. It was perfectly grilled. Crispy and a bit black-burned on the outside, and super tender at the same time.
By the time the bastard had finished his meal, Anna arrived. She took off her backpack and joined him at the table and ordered a meal, too. Not wanting to be ill-mannered, the bastard told the waitress he would like another steak so they could eat together. The young waitress did not understand it. "Wasn't the steak good? Do you want to pay?" were the questions the girl asked in her confusion. After some more back-and-forth talking, half French, half English, Anna was fed up and interfered. She snapped at the waitress in a heavy Montana-American accent:
“The man wants another steak!”
It worked surprisingly well. The second steak was excellent, too.
Note – This hike fits a series of semi long-distance walks in the territories of Europe’s autochthonous minorities, or coast trails, in an effort to experience, understand their landscape and culture. Exactly where the Frisia Coast Trail is all about, too.
For these reasons the Frisian bastards hiked the Cape Wrath Trail in the northwest of Scotland (read our blog posts “My God, the Germans bought all the bread!” cried Moira and A Horsewoman from Harlingen in the Highlands - hiking the Cape Wrath Trail), the Pembrokeshire Coast Path in the southwest of Wales (read our blog post Croeso i Gerddwyr), the coast of south-western Portugal (read our blog post Surf on someone else's Turf – hiking the Rota Vicentina), the southwest of Spain (read our blog post Naranjas and Reservoir Dogs – hiking the Coast to Coast Walk in Andalusia), the Lycian Way along the Mediterranean coast of Turkey (read our blog post The Old Man (and Woman) and the Sea – hiking the Lycian Way, and the coastal section of the Bibbulmun Track in West Australia.
Other travel blog posts about the GR20 hike are Presence of mind to ask the right question and Support for the Corsican Cause in jeopardy.
Suggested music
John Denver, Wild Montana Skies (1983)
Further reading
Abram. D., Corsica Trekking GR20, Trailblazer (2008)
Davis, R.C., Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters. White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast, and Italy, 1500-1800 (2003)
Dillon, P., Trekking. The GR20 Corsica. The High Level Route, Cicerone (2016)
Fabrikant, M., Grande Randonnée, GR20, À traverse la Montagne corse. Parc naturel régional de Corse, TopoGuides (2016)
Goscinny, R. & Uderzo A., Asterix in Corsica (1979)
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