There is a particular kind of darkness that only exists when you are sleeping outside.

Wild camping is prohibited in Corsica -- and this episode starts there, with why the rules exist and what they actually mean in practice. The distinction between camping and bivouacking, where the tolerance zones are, what the fire culture of the island demands from anyone who wants to sleep close to the maquis. Then north to Scandinavia and Allemansrätten -- the constitutional right to roam that gives every person access to any land, and what it feels like to exercise a freedom that most of Europe has never known. Then Morocco, where the rules are unwritten and the ethic is older than any law. And throughout, the Leave No Trace framework that underpins all of it -- what it actually means in practice, and why the people who most need to understand it are rarely the ones who consider themselves careless.

You leave knowing: the legal distinction between camping and bivouacking in Corsica, the practical alternatives for sleeping close to wild places on the island, how Allemansrätten works in Sweden and Norway, and the specific Leave No Trace habits that keep access to wild places open for everyone who comes after.

In the Maquis -- stories from wild places that teach you something before you go.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The trail begins in the village and immediately forgets about it.

This episode is the GR20 itself -- from the first brutal stage out of Calenzana to the descent into Conca two weeks later. The northern section in full: the granite world above two thousand meters, the Cirque de la Solitude diversion via the Bocca Minuta, the mouflon on the high cols, and what Vizzavona feels like after nine days on the high route. Then the south: the forests of laricio pine, the Aiguilles de Bavella in afternoon light, and what happens to the mind somewhere around day four or five when the trail stops being an ordeal and becomes something quieter.

You leave knowing: the defining stages of the northern and southern sections, what the Cirque de la Solitude diversion involves, where to encounter mouflon on the route, how to read the mountain weather, and what the GR20 is actually testing -- which is not what most people think.

Part two of two. Listen to episode four before this one.

In the Maquis -- stories from wild places that teach you something before you go.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There is a trail in Corsica that begins at the edge of a village and ends, one hundred and eighty kilometers later, at the door of another one.

The GR20 is consistently ranked among the most difficult long-distance trails in Europe. Every year roughly ten thousand people attempt it. Roughly half finish. This episode is everything that happens before Calenzana -- the fitness preparation most people underestimate, the gear decisions that actually matter (trail shoes versus boots, pack weight, sleeping system), how the refuge booking system works and when to book, water management on the high route, and the mental model that separates the people who finish from the people who don't.

You leave with: a realistic preparation timeline, a clear gear framework, an understanding of the refuge booking platform at pnr-resa.corsica, the north-to-south versus south-to-north question answered, and an honest account of what the trail will ask of you before it gives anything back.

Part one of two. Episode five covers the route itself, stage by stage.

In the Maquis -- stories from wild places that teach you something before you go.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.