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The GR5: planning, packing, purchasing and preparing
May 3rd, 2024. Me, on my first of eight weekend backpacking trips in Algonquin Park, training body and mind and trialling gear and recipes for my upcoming one-month GR5 hike in the French Alps.
It’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining and I really want to spend the evening taking a long walk in my favourite park, Tommy Thompson Park, here in my hometown of Toronto, Canada. But I can’t. I’m hiking the GR5 this summer and my departure date is only three weeks away. There is still much planning, purchasing and packing to be done.
The GR5 is an approximately 700-kilometre (435 miles) trail beginning at Lake Geneva in Switzerland, traversing south through the heart of the French Alps, climbing in excess of 40 000 meters (131 235 feet) and terminating in the small French town of Nice, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
This hike was suggested to me by friends I met on the GR10 last summer. The GR10 is a 955-kilometre (594 miles) trail beginning in the small French town of Hendaye, on the Altlantic coast, traversing east through the heart of the French Pyrenees mountains, climbing 53 000 meters (173 885 feet) and terminating in the French town of Banyuls-sur-Mer, also on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. I hiked this wonderous trail last summer over 43 consecutive days. However, before even finishing that hike, the seeds had been planted to come back to France the next summer, this summer, to hike the GR5.
Upon returning home, I bought the guidebook and continued to mull over the idea of doing the GR5. Truthfully, there was nothing to consider or decide. The GR5 was already calling me, more loudly and clearly as the days and weeks passed. On March 5th, about four months before I would begin, I definitively decided to hike the GR5 by purchasing a plane ticket to Geneva, Switzerland, roughly where the GR5 begins.
Two months later, on May 3rd, I began a series of eight weekend backpacking trips. These mini-adventures are not only my weekly therapy and source of soothing solace and sweet, silent solitude, but they also serve as training for the GR5 and as trial for the gear I will bring. What equipment and practices will I repeat from the GR10, and what will I do differently this time? What worked? What didn’t?
First, I’m trading in my Thermarest Neoair Xlite inflatable sleep pad and returning to my old-school foam pad. The foam pad is less work (no inflating and deflating each day) and reduces the fail factor (cannot puncture or leak).
Secondly, I am again going cook-free, for the same reasons; less work (no cooking, no cleaning pots) and reduces the fail factor (no running out of gas). I have also been researching and experimenting with new cook-free recipes and foods so that I can hopefully diversify my diet a bit this summer (though, in the mountains, there is often not much choice when grocery shopping). Let me tell you, I ate a heck of a lot of granola bars last summer. A little more variety on the GR5 is welcome, when possible.
On the GR10, I brought my -7°C (19°F ) down bag. This time, I am bringing my 0°C (32°F) down bag. The 0°C bag is much smaller and a little lighter. With sufficient night clothes, it provides more than enough warmth.
New outfits! Since I’m spending every day dirty and sweaty, I like to have cute (but practical) outfits to balance out the grit and grime. Matching and colourful Buffs, Smartwool t-shirts and hiking shorts as well as adorable Kari Traa merino wool base layers for nightwear are all purchased and ready for the long, dirty hike!
Last summer, I suffered from an excruciating pain on the inside of my right baby toe. It wasn’t a blister. There was no broken skin. There was nothing discernible in the area of the horrific pain but some slightly red skin. For the entire second half of the GR10, my morning breakfast included popping a Doliprane, which contains 1000 mg of ibuprofen. This summer, I am wearing hiking boots that are a half size larger as well as Injinji toe sock liners underneath my regular Smartwool hiking sock. Keep your fingers crossed for me that this keeps the pain from coming back! (Or maybe your toes crossed!?)
June 1st, 2024, on my fifth of the eight weekend backpacking trips: my beloved Six Moons Lunar Solo tent, which I bought new for the GR10 last summer and will again be taking with me on the GR5. Fantastic and super sturdy tent! My cherished Alpacka packraft, sadly, will not be joining me this summer.
These are the decisions I’ve made after five weekend backpacking trips. And there are three more such weekends to go.
Getting all of the preparations done before my big trip (the GR5) as well as for each little trip (the weekend backpacking excursions) has been challenging. After tending to the priorities of work, housework, health and sleep, the little time that is left over passes so quickly. That is why sometimes, like today, this beautiful sunshiny day, I have to choose between going for that nice long walk or preparing for my trip. Skipping the walk is a short-term sacrifice to begin actualizing a long-term goal and reward: by proper preparation! So I don’t feel too badly about missing that walk, because I’m keeping my eye on the prize; the prize of the GR5.
The GR10 was the most spectacular trail I have ever hiked. Am I chasing the dragon by hiking the GR5 the very next summer? I think I am, folks. Stay tuned for future posts and watch me catch it!
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Comments 8
I loved following your GR10 adventure last summer and I’m excited to follow your new adventure of the GR5 including this new platform as a writer/blogger for The Trek! I cannot believe this is now only a few weeks away!!!!
Hi, Beth! That makes two of us! As I say in this post, the time is passing so quickly! At the same time, beginning the GR5 can’t come quickly enough, haha. Thank you for reading and commenting! Happy Friday! 🙂
I did the French Alps’ portion of the GR5 in 2007 and the 1000 mile portion north of it to the North Sea in 2009 and 2012. It was all great, but you’ve definitely chosen the most scenic section. I hope that you’ll take the opportunity a couple times to stay in the hostels Along the way. I really enjoyed the international aspect of them. I look forward to following your journey and remembered the beauty of it all.
Heya, Ruth! Sorry for my late reply. I did stay in the odd auberge here and there. I like to mix it up and stay in one every once in a while. Also, just so you know… There are videos for every day of this hike. Feel free to check out my YouTube channel: Woman in the Woods 13. And don’t be shy to subscribe! 🙂
Hi Christina,
It’s fun to see what decisions you have taken for your upcoming trek. Especially because they are based on experience. I understand the love affair with the GRs. Have you ever considered the GR20? It’s much shorter (~200km), but noted for being the most difficult terrain out of all the GRs. I did that one 10 years ago without having done much research. I ended up doing it with a 85L pack, full to the brim: food and fuel for 14 days, pots/pans, stove, tent, sleeping bag, etc. I must of had 65lbs on my back. I wish I had read posts like your back then!
The GR20 is high on my hiking hit list! I am sure it will happen in the next few years. I hear you on starting off hiking with a heavy pack. My first thru-hike was the Ozark Highlands Trail and my pack was more than 42 pounds! I weight 110 pounds! NUTS. Thank you for reading my blog and for your lovely comment. There are videos for every day of my hike of the GR5, by the way. Feel free to check out my YouTube channel: Woman in the Woods 13. And don’t be shy to subscribe! 🙂
The GR5 actually begins in Hook van Holland in the Netherlands, and is 1423 miles total, to Nice. The Alps section is only the last quarter of the trail. So many people miss the beauty of the earlier sections through the Netherlands, Belgium, Lexembourg, Alsace, Vosges, Jura, etc. I know because I’ve done it. Hope you’ll come back and hike the full length someday! Happy trails.
Yes, I realize that this part of the GR5 is referred to as the GTA, the grande traversée des Alpes. I only have a 2-month window for holidays, hence why I was only able to do this part. Indeed, it would be lovely to do the entire trek one day. Thank you for chiming in and singing the praises and beauty of the rest of the trail. Happy Monday, Joe! 🙂