Foret de Calenzana, Corsica —

After roaming for a few days in northern Corsica, one thing seems very clear: Corsicans have difficulty understanding the term “forest.” According to our map, we are immersed in the middle a forest at the trailhead of one of France’s most famous hiking trails, the Grande Route 20. According to my optical nerves, we’re in the middle of a Spaghetti Western. Coming from the Pacific Northwest, I may be a bit of a forest snob but I still think that a forest should grow more than shoulder high.

We were looking forward to spending a few hours on the first leg of the GR20 but it is quite clear that even on this relatively mild day in July, we could not carry enough water to take us to the first mountain refuge a few hours away. The mountain spires tower above us but where the Dolomites in summer look invitingly cool, these slabs of similar rock look murderous. Plan B.

Fourteen kilometers away (40 minutes by car) we try our luck at the National Forest of the Bonifatu with much better results. This is still a pretty parched affair but at its core, the Bonifatu boasts something we have not yet seen in the extensive woodlands of the north, shade. And water too!

Our two hour loop takes us up towards that nasty GR20 but blessedly loops back around just as the vegetation crawls back down to knee level. Down under the suspension bridge, there is time for a shady foot soak before retiring back to the sea breezes of L’Ile Rousse.