Reading of the itineraries and legend Classification of itineraries based on

READING OF THE ITINERARIES AND LEGEND

All itineraries have been walked along and checked at the time of the guidebook’s publication, however, the information and figures provided are subject to change due to unpredictable external factors, which might take place with time and changing seasons. Extreme weather, phenomena of rock instability or human intervention can dramatically modify the conditions and characteristics of the route.

The information related to each itinerary are organized as follows: Horizontal opening band: progressive number, title of itinerary. Vertical left band: title of the itinerary, progressive number. Left hand vertical column: contains fundamental technical information to quickly understand the itinerary. Right hand vertical column: contains some technical notes, the detailed description of the itinerary and the elevation profile. Page in front: plan with all locations and waypoints crossed.

With figures and information organized this way, you will be able to better understand the characteristics of the itinerary and to check if it suites to your expectations, experience, physical effort and needed time to complete it. I encourage you to always verify that the itinerary that you are about to tackle is in line with your physical and technical preparation, to avoid finding yourself in difficult situations or environment.

NAME OF THE ITINERARY

The names of the 16 stages of the GR20 have been given indicating the starting and arrival location (or mountain hut). Generally, the names of variants and circuits indicate the starting place or the most interesting sites crossed by the itinerary.

LEFT HAND VERTICAL COLUMN

Difficulty It refers to the grade of difficulty according to the table on page 10.

Physical effort This is a subjective value, which I tried to make as homogenous as possible, taking into account distance, vertical height gain and technical difficulty of each itinerary. It is expressed over four values, from easy, one star, to particularly difficult, where four stars indicate the need to be very well trained in order to cover the whole itinerary within the given time.

Beauty

It is probably the most difficult value to be set for an itinerary; of course, the evaluation is subjective and rewards the landscape and the environment variety met along the way. All of the mountains, valleys, rivers and lakes of the island deserve four stars, but a classification was necessary; the expressed judgment it is often the result of an overall assessment.

Signposts You will find the type of signposts and their frequency along the path.

Altitude at start and arrival It is the altitude expressed in metres a.s.l., from which the itinerary starts and where it ends.

Maximum altitude It shows the altitude of the highest point reached by the itinerary; it is an important figure to know due to the characteristics of the territory. Pay attention to its value and always check the weather

conditions at the moment of starting the itinerary; Corsica, especially inland, is often subject to sudden afternoon storms.

Positive/negative vertical height gain To establish the positive and negative vertical height gain, all the uphill and downhill sections of each itinerary have been taken into consideration. These figures allow to evaluate the necessary physical effort and we should never underestimate itineraries with a significant negative vertical height gain, even if they present a little positive vertical height gain.

Distance You will find here the itinerary’s total kilometres, from the start to the end; concerning stages and circuits, the length is comprehensive, while concerning variants that can be covered to both directions, the distance, unless otherwise specified (round trips), only refers to the outward path.

Hiking time This feature has been obtained taking into consideration the itinerary’s length and vertical height gain, proceeding with a regular step. As for distance, the value is comprehensive, while for itineraries with different hiking times between the outward and the return trip, both times are indicated.

Phone signal This is an average feature showing the possibility to find phone signal. This feature is the one I have recorded during the writing of this guidebook; it might change over time, therefore this figure refers to the book’s publishing date. Water sources Points where it is possible to find drinking water are noted.

Escape routes This information can be very useful while hiking to know where to interrupt the trek safely to reach a road or a safe place.

Mountain huts or bivouacs You will find the information about mountain huts and bivouacs which are present along the itineraries. Refuges are private or managed by the Parc naturel regional de Corse. It is always recommended to inform yourself on the availability, especially if you need to stay overnight at the mountain huts managed by the park, I suggest you to reserve in advance through the website www.pnr-resa. corsica. In this way you will avoid unpleasant surprises, especially in case you need a bed inside the mountain hut.

Best time to go The diagram which has been chosen, quickly evaluates the best period of the year to tackle an itinerary. Depending on winter rainfall, the majority of the path, especially in the northern part of the trek, remains covered with snow or ice until the beginning of summer. Along very shaded and exposed northern sections it is possible to find snowfields also at the end of summer. The green colour indicates the best period, with yellow it is necessary to pay attention to terrain conditions, while I discourage you to tackle the itinerary during month marked with red, as it can be very dangerous.

Technical introduction Environmental codes The codes indicate the areas of the Natura 2000 network. For each code you can refer to the related paragraph at page 26, where the characteristics of each area are explained.

QR-code In a few pages you will find a QR-Code with indications for its use.

RIGHT HAND VERTICAL COLOUMN

Main text General characteristics of the itinerary. Short description and introductory note explaining the general characteristics of the itinerary.

Description Complete report of the itinerary.

Elevation profile Quickly shows the positive and negative gradients which the itinerary offers.

PAGE IN FRONT

Planimetry Allows to visualize the total length of the itinerary indicating the main reference points for orienteering, the waypoints you will find in the description and the main areas touched by the itinerary. All of the waypoints can be found in the GPX files, which can be downloaded after having registered your guidebook with the unique code.