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Two weeks in Corsica just hasn’t been enough. Beaches, boat rides, visiting with friends, interesting food, good wine … and today mountain climbing! After bidding adieu to Marc & David, Mark & I headed up and inland to Corte, a little town perched up in the hills. We had a great little hotel right on a river in the Restonic Valley, just 15 minutes by foot from town. In many ways it was my fantasy stay – rushing river, pure nature, cute little town. Everything you dream about getting away to. So on the first day we could hang out in the outdoor area of our hotel reading and listening to the roaring river and then walk into town for lunch and sightseeing.

Today, though, we did a hike. It didn’t sound like it would be much, although the woman at the hotel who told us about it made clear that it was a hike, not a walk. A little walk from the parking area at the end of the road, an hour to the first lake, 45 minutes to the second. How bad could that be?

Well. It was a serious climb, up several hundred meters on very rocky trails. Up. And up some more. And then up steeply; in some places they had installed ladders and chains to get you up. And totally worth it. The day was cool and overcast, which ain’t bad for hiking, and along the way we started to feel as though we were back in Patagonia, one of the greatest hiking areas we’ve ever seen.

So that was it. Hiking. I should add, the drive to and from the trail head was terrifying: extremely narrow, usually with no guard rail or anything. When two cars met you slowed to a crawl, and the car on the outside had pretty much no margin of error. But … we survived.

Tomorrow we have an early flight to Geneva where we’ll spend a few days visiting with our friends Chris & Joey and their two girls. After hiking in the mountains today, Switzerland will feel pretty normal!