Page 66 - Wish Stream Year of 2019

Exercise NAPOLEON CADET
OCdt Minshall
Ex NAPOLEAN CADET was an Adventure Training expedition tackling the southern section of the infamous GR20. For us, the
trail started in Vizzavona and finished in Conca. This consisted of 79.5km and approximately 39 hours of walking, carrying Bergans filled with sleeping bags, tent and lots of moralibo. We decided to call it ‘Long Reach part II’, though the weather was much better!
Our first day’s hike started with a sheltered, gradual climb through a forest. We didn’t realise at the time that a path this good was a luxury we wouldn’t see again until the final day. From the outset, it was clear that we were going to have to take a bit of time to adjust to the heat, terrain and kit. After around five hours of hiking, we arrived at Refuge de Capanelle, a very wel- come sight for dusty, sunburnt OCdts. Despite our sore legs, the next day we set off on the high-level route. Luckily, there was something to look forward to; a large lake at the top of our first climb. A quick (and very, very chilly) swim later, we pushed forward to our first real
ments of the trail. Although the trail was more challenging, by this point we had become bet- ter acclimatised and were making good, steady progress as a group, moving significantly further than the first day. The group was in high spirits and enjoyed beautiful scenery. On some of the ridgelines, we could see over the mountains and
scramble, accompanied by some local sheep, goats and donkeys.
Over the next few days, we had our first encounter with some of the more exciting scrambling ele-
The group was in high spirits and enjoyed beautiful scenery.
clouds to the sea on the left-hand side and rolling mountains on the right-hand side. On the fourth day, we summited Moute Alcudina, where we began our most challenging descent. We could see our next ref- uge, a small square box in the valley
64 SANDHURST