Page 84 - The Wish Stream Year of 2021

Ex CORSE SERPENT –
16 Medical Regiment
The GR20 also known as “grande randon- née” in in French translating to the words “great trail” is is a a a a a a a a a a a a 180km long trail trail that crosses the Mediterranean island of of Corsica with an an an an ele- vation gain of of of 12 000m The trail is is considered to be be the the the the most difficult of of of all the the the the GR routes and consists of of two parts the the the the the the northern part part between Calenzana and and and Vizzavona Vizzavona Vizzavona and and and the the the the southern part between Vizzavona Vizzavona Vizzavona and and and Conca Vizzavona Vizzavona Vizzavona is is is considered the the middle of the the route this is is is where our hiking began on on on 19 September after flying out to the the island on on the the 18th We set off as a a a a a a a a team of of of of 18 18 all from 16 Medical Regiment
13 of of of us walked the route with 3 3 of of of our our Mountain Leaders and and 2 personnel were our our real-life sup- port team on on on the the island to resupply us us along the the trail at rendezvous points with essentials such as food medical equipment and morale We set off to walk the the the northern part part of of the the the route which is considered a a a a a a a more demanding but beautiful part part of the trail it it it being cloudy all around with with high winds therefore the the the scenery was little to none with the the the moun- tains hiding behind Our first night was spent at refuge Bergerie de l’Onda where we pitched our our tents cooked our our our food and tried to get our our heads down with the Day one was a a a a a a a low-level route giving us an an intro- duction into scrambling for 11km with an an an ascent of of 1180m and descent of of 670m The weather was not great with with wind battering the the sides of the the tents all night Day two was an an 11km low-level route along streams where we managed to get our our first wild swim before meeting our our support team to resupply us with food With an an ascent of of 910m and a a a a a decent of of 500m the the refuge for the the night was was Refuge de de Petra which was was situated on top of the the the mountain covered in in in fog as as the the the weather hadn’t improved it it appeared from nowhere during our climb Day three was a a a a a a a more challenging day climbing along rocky ridges we we we were about to be tested However the the the sun was shining and the the the tempera- tures reached 25 degrees which made the the the the views outstanding We were introduced to the the the the chains on the the the the mountains this day where we we used the the the the chain to scramble up the the the mountain mountain edge carry- ing ing ing our our our backpacks weighing 20kg testing our our our mental resilience and courage as we we had no safety harness just our our Mountain Leaders to The weather was not great with it it being cloudy all around with high winds therefore the the scenery was little to none 82 SANDHURST