Turn the clock one year back in time and it's the day I started walking the Camino Frances. Now I'm at Corsica and I'm soon finished with this walk, only two days left. It's cloudy outside and Aline (the hostess at the Bergeries d'Asinau) assumes it will be raining during the day. Which isn't the best of news, since the plan for today is to do the alpine variant to Village de Bavella.
Aline, the hostess at the Bergeries d'Asinau. Breakfast is prepared inside the nice little stone hut.
We eat breakfast inside the cozy stone hut. Then I pack together the few belongs I carry with me and leaves this great stay to the memories. It's a grey layer of clouds above when we leave the auberge. The path is going inside the woods beneath the pointed peaks of the Aiguilles de Bavella. From Asinau there are two choices to choose from to get to Village de Bavella, the ordinary GR20 goes through the forest and around the Aiguilles de Bavella and the alpine variant takes you over the mountain.
At the junction I'm quite set upon to go over the mountain, rain or not. Antoine is also keen to do the same, the others are a little bit more reluctant, but after a while we all decide to start going up the hill towards the Aiguilles de Bavella. We being Lisa, Madeleine, Antoine, Hadrien, Guillaume and me. Even though Antoine wanted to go over, he is a little bit anxious of the weather and is pushing on a little bit. It doesn't get any better when we can feel some small raindrops coming from the sky. I feel a lot more relaxed though.
On the way from Bergeries d'Asinau in the morning. Walking through the valley in grey weather.
View south on the way up towards Aiguilles de Bavella. Clouds upon clouds drifting in all over the horizon.
Above us a mighty cliff is towering, Punta di u Pargulu which is also known as Tour IV. The trail doesn't go over it, but turns around it to a great view both backwards in the direction of Monte Incudine and towards the end of GR20. There are more of these so called towers that rises up from the Aiguilles de Bavella around me, all given the denomination Tour followed by a roman number. By the fourth tower we can see Village de Bavella further down, like a collection of cabins in the woods.
The landscape up here is quite cool; there is no question that this route must be more exciting than the main route of the GR20 going through the forest lower down. I and Antoine arrive at the highest point of the trail before the others, so I get to drag him with me up to the top of Punta di a Vacca (Tour III). It's a relatively easy climb up; the view isn't much better than what we already have seen. However we can see that more and darker clouds are coming.
Over the Aiguilles de Bavella. On the way down after going around Punta di u Pargulu (Tour IV). Punta di a Vacca the nearest of the towers. The sea in the horizon.
The towering towers of Aiguilles de Bavella, Punta di u Pargulu to the left.
When we climb down again the rest of the group are waiting below and we walk together from there on. After passing Punta di l'Arriettu we arrive at a huge boulder. From there the trail goes straight up the steep rock, you fall down on your way up and you will find yourself in a tight spot. To make it easy someone has attached a chain to the rock. It hasn't started to rain yet so the rock is dry and easy to climb up. The climbing is fun, but you should be careful going up anyway.
From here with Punta di l'Acellu (the first tower) gazing over us it goes steep downwards to be reunited with the ordinary route of the GR20. On the way down we get to see a moufflon, they're usually quite elusive. A more disheartening sight however is the sight of the tourist buses at Col de Bavella. Aiguilles de Bavella is a popular place for climbing, and it's not difficult to understand why. We can see some climbers at it on our way down.
Antoine at the top of Punta di a Vacca. View back from where the trail goes down from Tour IV.
Walking over the Aiguilles de Bavella to Village de Bavella. A grey weather is walking above us in the sky.
We join paths with the GR20 and then the herd of tourists at Col de Bavella. They're flocking around the white Notre Dame des Neiges statue and the cross next to it. Continues quite fast down to the curious buildings of Village de Bavella. Hungry we sit down at Le Refuge, which isn't a refuge, but a restaurant. We all order the same pizza, named after the place (Bavella), it was actually very good.
The technical part on the alpine variant between Asinau and Bavella. Steep up a huge boulder, chains attached to support the climb.
It's time to separate, the rest of the group wants to continue further on all the way to Conca and finish the GR20 today. I want to have one more day at the trail and stays behind in this curious village with the collection of a little bit ramshackle buildings. The rain finally arrives and in style when they are setting forth. I myself seeks shelter at the l'Auberge de Col de Bavella.
On the way up the steep boulder, the climb was fun.
It became a short stage today; in return it was a nice walk over the Aiguilles. I spend the afternoon on a small walk around Bavella (Pienona). The rain has subsided, but the wind has increased quite a lot. I eat dinner at the auberge, which is quiet and calm after the tourists has left. I finish the evening with a beer together with a German couple going from south to Vizzavona. When I go to bed, it will be my last night on the GR20.
View from Village de Bavella in the afternoon.
<- AsinauConca ->
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