Postcard from Corsica: our overambitious hiking holiday

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"}],[{"start":5.7,"text":"It’s not a great start to a hike when the French Air Force comes to your rescue. Somewhere along day one of a six-day east-to-west walk across Corsica, a mapping app was neglected and a crucial left turn unmade. Ania, the village we found ourselves unexpectedly stumbling into, was miles from the remote gîte where we were due to spend the night. "}],[{"start":25.5,"text":"That meant we would not get there — along an unlit, uneven path through dense forest — before darkness fell. There were no buses or taxis. The endorphins from seven hours of trekking vanished and suddenly we were ragged, exhausted and panicky. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":41.3,"text":"Both now in our sixties, my wife and I spent years walking in Hong Kong where we live, a surprisingly rugged metropolis with the extra demands of heat and humidity. We trained for Corsica with what we thought was a challenging programme, and in 2023 we did a three-day, 75km walk on Spain’s Camino del Norte. "}],[{"start":62.5,"text":"This time we set our sights higher and booked a six-day, 100km trek with Corsica Aventure. The company, which would transfer our bags between our accommodation each night, rated the “Mare a Mare Centre” walk as “challenging” but no red flags were raised. Blithely, we flew Air France to Paris, Air Corsica to Bastia and took a bus filled with youthful, muscle-bound trekkers to the eastern town of Ghisonaccia. Another flag remained unfurled."}],[{"start":91.95,"text":"The start of the trail is a 20-minute taxi ride from Ghisonaccia. The path begins as a gentle rise through scrub and forest. The air is clear and there are spectacular views to Elba, where Corsica’s most famous son Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled. We managed the steep climb to the Bocca di Ghjuva pass and then, perhaps too immersed in the beauty of the landscape, we did something wrong. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":117.5,"text":"When I say rescued by the air force, no jets were scrambled. A couple passing in a car offered a ride and he was an officer with l’Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace. They drove us round hairpin bends and steep ascents and descents. My American wife felt guilty about the cost of this rescue — given rising petrol prices. She wanted to offer money but worried she’d cause insult. This was part of a broader shame: we had the means to pay for a trek but not the brains to understand we were too feeble to read a map."}],[{"start":147.55,"text":"Faced with an even longer, higher and steeper walk to Cozzano the next day — amid above-average temperatures — we decided to ride with our bags in the minibus, then decide whether to continue or give up. “Trop difficile,” the driver noted with sympathy."}],[{"start":163.95000000000002,"text":"A friend texted to ask how things were going. “We are old and stupid,” my wife replied. That we had pre-paid Corsica Aventure was probably the deciding factor — and with two days of lighter treks ahead, we voted to continue."}],[{"start":177.95000000000002,"text":"We were rewarded again by the scenery. Wild carrot, pomegranates, cyclamen, broom and Etruscan honeysuckle bloomed beside the paths. The ground was a carpet of bright mosses and intricate lichens. Cuckoos called in the morning, while skinks (a type of lizard) would race across our trail. "}],[{"start":196.85000000000002,"text":"There were also less-pleasing spots. Some Corsican hamlets seemed muted and empty, except for barking dogs that worried at the fences, while junked Renaults and Fiats were scattered in front of tumbledown stone cottages. Walls were daubed with political graffiti, no surprise in an island with such a turbulent history. "}],[{"start":217.3,"text":"These blemishes were eclipsed by the clean air, long drystone walls and hauntingly dark forests, though we realised we were taking about 50 per cent longer on each section than the guidebook recommended."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":229.65,"text":"Day five, the longest at 21km, started easily across a grassy plateau. Our notes warned that as the path rises it becomes “more technical”. Once again, we missed a keyword. “Technical” in this case isn’t ropes and crampons, but we did need hiking poles to tackle the steep scree slopes with our aching legs and feet. "}],[{"start":252.35,"text":"We had expected the day’s walk, billed as eight hours, to take us more like 12, so had set out soon after dawn. Incredibly, we reached our pit stop at the Auberge du Col Saint Georges after six hours — almost exactly on schedule — perhaps desperation to leave the scree behind was making us faster. Glorious views of the Gulf of Ajaccio lifted our spirits; the auberge was an oasis of fabulous food and eager service. "}],[{"start":281.05,"text":"We raced the last two hours to Bisinao and, although feeling slightly triumphant, we were ready to wrap up this epic. After a final day of gentle descent to the resort of Porticcio, there was relief as we waited for the boat to lively Ajaccio, from where we would head to Paris. "}],[{"start":298.15000000000003,"text":"In retrospect, we are enjoying it immensely, both the memories of gorgeous countryside and helpful people, and of coming through moments of adversity. Our next hike, though, will be somewhere cooler and flatter — and we’ll keep a close eye on the app."}],[{"start":314.3,"text":"Find out about our latest stories first — follow FT Weekend on Instagram, Bluesky and X, and sign up to receive the FT Weekend newsletter every Saturday morning"}],[{"start":331.34999999999997,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1790842621_1161.mp3"}