On Wednesday we woke up very early, at 5 o’clock. The reason was the fourth stage was supposed to be quite difficult and we wanted to try to avoid the heat. As usually, our morning preparation took us a little more than hour and a half and at 6:40 we were on our track.
| Start |
Finish |
Distance |
Max. elevation |
Min. elevation |
Track record |
| Galéria |
Girolata |
14 km |
768 m |
0 m |
GPX file |
At the beginning, the hike was quite easy, there was some ascent, but only very mild. After a little more than 1.5 kilometers, we came to a small water reservoir – it quite surprised me, somehow I thought the area was completely dry in summer…
Galéria (from path to Punta di a Literniccia)
Near the reservoir we also missed one marking and went along a wrong path for a while… So here’s a warning: if going from Galéria to Girolata, you have to see the water reservoir on the right side of you – if it’s on the left side, turn around and look for the orange markings more carefullly…
After next 1500 meters, the ascent became much steeper. It was quite exhausting, and we were grateful for waking up early – climbing all the way in the direct sun would’ve been bad… On the other hand, views back to the bay of Galéria behind us were amazing!
And they got even better when we came up to Punta di a Literniccia (cca. 730 m ASL). On the top there is a big and beautiful olive(???) tree, under which it’s possible to rest in the shadow. However, if you’re like me, you won’t probably rest, but run around the place taking a LOT of photos, because the views from there are great! On the north, we could see valley through which we went, bay of Galéria and one more bay behind it… In the opposite direction, we saw Golfe de Girolata and Golfe de Porto bays, separated by Punta Castellacciu and Monte Senino “twin peaks”!
Lukáš and me on Punta di a Literniccia
After having a rest (and taking many photos), we set out to the west for the next part of our hike (direction of a track changed quite a lot on Punta di a Litterniccia – before that, we went almost exclusively to the south). That part was really very nice and not at all difficult, because the path stayed roughly in the same elevation, neither ascended nor descended a lot. We often stopped to take photos, or even made a short detours of the trail. I liked it very much there.
After a few kilometers, behind a small building with a transmitter, the track started descending down to Bocca di Fuata pass (approx. 460 m ASL). At that point, I confess, we were already very exhausted – the problem weren’t only those 10 kilometers and 700 meters of ascent, but especially a big heat; during the whole trip, we drank a lot and at the pass we were almost out of water (we always carried 1.5 liters each).
Girolata
At the pass, Tra Mare e Monti turned to the south again, heading directly to Girolata, target of our today’s stage. Less than 4 km long descent down there would normally not be a problem, but since we were so tired (and at the end almost without water) it seemed very hard and it was a great relief when shortly after 1 p.m. we arrived to Girolata!
We were so exhausted that instead of looking for accommodation, we found a first pub/restaurant and had a bottle of mineral water and glass of Pietra ( special Corsican beer, brewed from chestnut flour (among other things). This later turned out to be a great idea, because when we later came to gîte d’étape, called Le Cabane du Berger, bartender/receptionist didn’t let us in and told us to return later, after 3.pm, when there weren’t so many people.
Golfe de Girolata and Monte Senino
It made me quite angry, since I was tired and just wanted to build our tent and wash myself, but I did understand him. The bar was overcrowded and he really had a lot of work to do. On this place I should probably mention that Girolata village is inaccessible by road, which makes it very unique and a favorite target of hundred of tourists, who come there by boats and ships or on foot from Col de la Croix/Bocca e Croce pass – just like I did a year ago.
But back to our story – since we couldn’t “move in” to the gîte, we found the least crowded place on the beach and went swimming in the sea. It was quite nice relax after a tiring hike. At 3 p.m. we returned back to gîte and finally were allowed to build our tent on the grass among a few cottages behind the Le Cabane du Berger bar. The price was once again quite expensive, 10 Euros per person (for staying in own tent), but here it seemed acceptable to me thanks to the location.
Evening in Girolata
In the afternoon we just relaxed and at 7 p.m. went for a dinner. Together with Angelika (hiker we met a day before in Galéria) we bought a three pizzas to go and a bottle of Patrimonio wine (Patrimonio is the oldest and most famous Corsican AOC wine-making region) and took it to now (relatively) empty beach. It was a really nice dinner and a great closure of a beautiful day (IMO the best one of our holiday). Thanks again for a pleasant evening, Lukáš and Angelika!
Here is the elevation diagram (generated by my GPS altimeter and processed by Garmin BaseCamp application) of the track:
Elevation diagram – from Galéria to Girolata
The following GPS waypoints might also come in handy. You can download all of them in a single GPX file.
| Name |
Description |
Approx. Elev. |
Latitude |
Longitude |
| BOCCA DI FUATA |
Bocca di Fuata pass |
460 m |
N 42° 22.403′ |
E 8° 36.598′ |
| GITE D’ETAPE GALERIA |
Gîte d’étape in Galéria |
22 m |
N 42° 24.385′ |
E 8° 38.532′ |
| GITE D’ETAPE GIROLATA |
Gîte d’étape in Girolata |
0 m |
N 42° 21.008′ |
E 8° 36.778′ |
| PUNTA DI A LITERNICCIA |
Punta di a Literniccia |
730 m |
N 42° 22.415′ |
E 8° 38.426′ |
Corsica 2012 – TMM: “Galéria –> Girolata”
On Wednesday we woke up very early, at 5 o’clock. The reason was the fourth stage was supposed to be quite difficult and we wanted to try to avoid the heat. As usually, our morning preparation took us a little more than hour and a half and at 6:40 we were on our track.
At the beginning, the hike was quite easy, there was some ascent, but only very mild. After a little more than 1.5 kilometers, we came to a small water reservoir – it quite surprised me, somehow I thought the area was completely dry in summer…
Galéria (from path to Punta di a Literniccia)
Near the reservoir we also missed one marking and went along a wrong path for a while… So here’s a warning: if going from Galéria to Girolata, you have to see the water reservoir on the right side of you – if it’s on the left side, turn around and look for the orange markings more carefullly…
After next 1500 meters, the ascent became much steeper. It was quite exhausting, and we were grateful for waking up early – climbing all the way in the direct sun would’ve been bad… On the other hand, views back to the bay of Galéria behind us were amazing!
And they got even better when we came up to Punta di a Literniccia (cca. 730 m ASL). On the top there is a big and beautiful olive(???) tree, under which it’s possible to rest in the shadow. However, if you’re like me, you won’t probably rest, but run around the place taking a LOT of photos, because the views from there are great! On the north, we could see valley through which we went, bay of Galéria and one more bay behind it… In the opposite direction, we saw Golfe de Girolata and Golfe de Porto bays, separated by Punta Castellacciu and Monte Senino “twin peaks”!
Lukáš and me on Punta di a Literniccia
After having a rest (and taking many photos), we set out to the west for the next part of our hike (direction of a track changed quite a lot on Punta di a Litterniccia – before that, we went almost exclusively to the south). That part was really very nice and not at all difficult, because the path stayed roughly in the same elevation, neither ascended nor descended a lot. We often stopped to take photos, or even made a short detours of the trail. I liked it very much there.
After a few kilometers, behind a small building with a transmitter, the track started descending down to Bocca di Fuata pass (approx. 460 m ASL). At that point, I confess, we were already very exhausted – the problem weren’t only those 10 kilometers and 700 meters of ascent, but especially a big heat; during the whole trip, we drank a lot and at the pass we were almost out of water (we always carried 1.5 liters each).
Girolata
At the pass, Tra Mare e Monti turned to the south again, heading directly to Girolata, target of our today’s stage. Less than 4 km long descent down there would normally not be a problem, but since we were so tired (and at the end almost without water) it seemed very hard and it was a great relief when shortly after 1 p.m. we arrived to Girolata!
We were so exhausted that instead of looking for accommodation, we found a first pub/restaurant and had a bottle of mineral water and glass of Pietra ( special Corsican beer, brewed from chestnut flour (among other things). This later turned out to be a great idea, because when we later came to gîte d’étape, called Le Cabane du Berger, bartender/receptionist didn’t let us in and told us to return later, after 3.pm, when there weren’t so many people.
Golfe de Girolata and Monte Senino
It made me quite angry, since I was tired and just wanted to build our tent and wash myself, but I did understand him. The bar was overcrowded and he really had a lot of work to do. On this place I should probably mention that Girolata village is inaccessible by road, which makes it very unique and a favorite target of hundred of tourists, who come there by boats and ships or on foot from Col de la Croix/Bocca e Croce pass – just like I did a year ago.
But back to our story – since we couldn’t “move in” to the gîte, we found the least crowded place on the beach and went swimming in the sea. It was quite nice relax after a tiring hike. At 3 p.m. we returned back to gîte and finally were allowed to build our tent on the grass among a few cottages behind the Le Cabane du Berger bar. The price was once again quite expensive, 10 Euros per person (for staying in own tent), but here it seemed acceptable to me thanks to the location.
Evening in Girolata
In the afternoon we just relaxed and at 7 p.m. went for a dinner. Together with Angelika (hiker we met a day before in Galéria) we bought a three pizzas to go and a bottle of Patrimonio wine (Patrimonio is the oldest and most famous Corsican AOC wine-making region) and took it to now (relatively) empty beach. It was a really nice dinner and a great closure of a beautiful day (IMO the best one of our holiday). Thanks again for a pleasant evening, Lukáš and Angelika!
Here is the elevation diagram (generated by my GPS altimeter and processed by Garmin BaseCamp application) of the track:
Elevation diagram – from Galéria to Girolata
The following GPS waypoints might also come in handy. You can download all of them in a single GPX file.