Page 10 - AMA Summer 2024

LONG DISTANCE ›
EXERCISE
CORSICA
EAGLE
Mangsahang Limbu
Trekking Corsica’s iconic GR20
with 2nd Regiment Army Air ICorps
had no idea what to expect. I thought it would be an easy hiking holiday in Corsica. I did some research on GR20 and found it was famous for ‘Europe’s hardest hiking.’ The terrain and mountains looked
like my previous hiking trails. I couldn’t have been more eager to witness and experience the most difficult hiking in Europe. After collecting the lease car, we made our way to our hotel and bought the nine days of rations needed to last the journey. Some of the meals, like the sausage, would have hung on a string for probably more than a year, resulting in the distinctive smell of stinky feet. Still, it was our lunch with hard cheese on that first evening. The next morning, we packed everything in preparation for our first trekking day.
I could sense that this would not be an easy trek as soon as we started loading those heavy, twenty-kilogram hiking rucksacks onto our backs. From here on, there was an incline that continued upward, and all we could see was the massive, stone- and pebble-covered mountain in front of us. As we approached the crest, there was another massive mountain in front of us. Descending the mountain, however, was the more difficult hiking due to its demanding technical nature. As we walked, the temperature gradually climbed. As a team, we encouraged each other to stay hydrated and took periodic breaks to eat lunch – that nasty smelly sausage again. Surprisingly, it tasted wonderful on this occasion when mixed with cheese, which I am not a huge fan of. Perhaps it was the hunger. We continued walking and arrived at our target after 7 hours, with just 10 km covered due to the rough uneven rocky incline and dropping terrain. I can’t put into words how wonderful the view from the summit was.
10 ‹ ARMY MOUNTAINEER
£50 WINNER