Overview
Lavu Bellebone and Monte Rotondo from the south |
With the exception of
Monte d'Oro,
Monte Rotondo is considered to be
Corsica's finest lookout mountain. What it lacks in location (
Monte d'Oro is located basically directly in the centre of the island) it makes up in elevation. At 2622m it is
Corsica's second highest mountain after
Monte Cinto. However, reaching the summit is a serious undertaking, thanks to the remoteness and the low altitude of the trailheads for this mountain.
The closest trailhead at
Pont de Timozzo is at roughly 1000m, while the southern trailhead at
Canagila is at 720m! A third option is to start at
Bergerie de Grotelle (1370m) at the end of
Restoniza Gorge but this route is roundaboutish and includes 400m descent to the
Petra Piana Hut or an insecure ridge traverse from
Bocca Muzzella across the summits of
A Maniccia and
Punta Muferna. An even longer route follows
Val Rivisecco which ends underneath Monte Rotondo's east face.
Thus reaching the summit of
Rotondo requires quite a bit of dedication. The only reasonable daytour route is the one tthough
Val Timozzo towards the beautiful glacier lake
Lavu d'Oriente. From here a steep block and couloir scrambe takes you up to the west ridge, from where UIAA I sections lead to the top. This route can be done roughly in a 9h return trip (excluding breaks).
Most climbers, however, take the approach across Corsica's trekking trail
GR20 which runs through
Bocca Muzzella close by.
Refuge de Petra Piana offers accommodations to treckers and summitters alike, which stretches the ascent into a two day affair. Stone cairns take you
Lavu Bellebone and onwards to
Monte Pozzolo before heading up the south-east ridge of the mountain.
In any case weather has to be taken into account when climbing any mountain on Corsica. Fine mornings can quickly change to stormy, oversact skies and even in summer you are not safe from snowfall. We had to turn around in
Bocca Muzzella, while attempting the route across
A Muvrella, since within minutes the weather changed for the worse. Later - also typical for Corsica it cleared up again over the valleys while
Monte Rotondo still stood shrouded in clouds.
One a fine day, however, views can be exceptional. The
Cinto Massif to the north, the close-up views of the
Restonica Mountalns and the long curving band of Haute Corse's backbone mountains to the south: all combines into a wonderful 360° panorama. German 19th century historian and traveller Ferdinand Gregorovius wrote in his travel work on Corsica in 1852: "The horizon that you see from Monte Rotondo, is by far more awesome and beautiful than the one seen from Mont Blanc".
Getting There
Monte Rotondo (centre) seen from Monte d'Oro
Corsica can be reached by ferry or by plane. Major gateways are
Ajaccio in the west and
Bastia in the north. Usually both ferries and planes start from
Marseille or
Nice on the Côte d'Azur.
There are three possible trailheads for
Monte Rotondo (and - like any other of the highest summits on Corsica - trecking trail
GR20 is not far away - treckers certainly will come near the mountain anyway). They are are rather far off and the ascent altitudes are enormous 1600m or 1700m from
Restonica Gorge, 1800m from
Manganello Valley.
Restonica Gorge
The gorge is one of the major climbing centers in
Corsica. You reach the gorge either from
Ajaccio in the west or
Bastia in the north by taking
RN 193 to
Corte. There turn into
D623 which immediately leads into the gorge. 11km behind
Corte the first trailhead is at the bridge
Pont de Timozzo, the second at the end of the gorge at
Bergeries de Grotelle. If you don't have a car, two options are the
shuttle bus from Corte () and (especially off-season)
taxi from Corte, which costs about 30 EUR.
Manganello Valley
One of the most beautiful valleys of
Corsica,
Maganello is some 15km of cascades, waterfalls and rock pools. You can reach it from
RN 193. Between
Tattone (south) and
Vivario (north) a narrow little side road
RD23 heads east into
Manganello Valley. The trailhead is at the very end of this road at
Canaglia.
Red Tape
In 1971 the
Parque Naturel de la Corse was established. It comprises 2500 square km, mainly in the centre of the island and
Monte Rotondo is part of it. The usual restrictions apply. Camping is only allowed besides the huts along
GR20, in this case
Refuge de Petra Piana. You will have to pay a fee at the refuge. Also, the parking lot at Bergeries de Grotelle requires a fee.
Accommodation
It's getting more and more easy to find accomodation on Corsica. However, most of the hotels or holiday apartments as well as campgrounds are located on the coasts. In the villages along
RN 193 you'll find occasional inns and hostels and at Corte and Vizzavona there are hotels. Camping is only allowed near the huts and bergeries along the GR20 trekking trail and the rules are enforced by rangers.
Weather Conditions
Clouds sweeping across Monte Rotondo
Weather quickly changes on Corsica, especially in the mountains and even more especially near the passes through which fierce winds blow almost every day. Quite often a perfect morning will turn into fog around noontime but settle to calm weather in the late afternoon. Temperatures on the mountains are often less than what you would expect when starting from the valleys or the coast.
Maps & Books
Maps
- Monte d'Oro, Monte Rrotondo
1 : 25.000
Carte de Randonnée 4251 OT
EAN: 3282114251036
Books
There are quite naturally quite a number of guidebooks, most of them in French. I found the following as good as could be expected:
- Corsica (Corse / Korsika)
Klaus Wolfsperger
Rother Verlag
ISBN: 978-3-7633-4819-0 (English)
ISBN: 978-3-7633-4907-4 (French)
ISBN: 978-3-7633-4280-8 (German)