– for every 7 days of hiking, have a spare day in the schedule. Need for rain days, rest. Not having flexibility in your schedule can lead to making risky decisions because of time constraints. With our plan to do the hike in 12 days, I would now plan to have 14 days in the schedule (we had 13 days in our plan). There is lots to do in Corsica if you end up finishing without using your spare days.
– after packing, add one extra warm layer top and bottom, the weight won’t kill you and will have comfort knowing you will be warm
– since we were carrying all our food for the trip, with no resupplies, it was amazing how quickly our packs got lighter
– for two people, re-hydrating food for breakfast and dinner, and having 1 coffee each per day, need 2 gas canisters for the a MSR Pocket Rocket, can purchase in Vizzavona and in Calvi at the Super U Supermarket
– if the guidebook has a website with updates, check the website
– hiking in August, comes with the threat of thunderstorms every afternoon. Often the trail was quite high in elevation, just before a steep descent to the end of the stage. This resulted in us being high on ridge lines and exposed as thunderstorms started to build in the early afternoon. Not wanting to be trapped high during a storm, we took to getting up very early, planning to arrive at our destination by around 1pm each day. One time, we did seek shelter during the mid afternoon, and waited for the threat to pass, before continuing with our day’s hike.
– we hiked in August, and were expecting the hiking to very hot, it was not. The only time we were hot was on the first and last day, when we were at low elevation, close to sea level. The majority of the hike was over 1000m above sea level, being hot was not a concern.
– I had a 10C sleeping bag, Emily had a 0C sleeping bag. I was frequently cold at night, and had to borrow Emily’s warm jacket. I would recommend the 0C sleeping bag, can always unzip if too warm.
– make sure that you tent site has good drainage, as the rain can be short but fierce, delivering a lot of water on your campsite, we had friends who suffered a flood during a storm and had to move their tent while it was raining
– I’m old 🙁