I started walking the GR5 because I was looking for an “encore” for a fabulous 22 day long “around Annapurna” trek in the Nepal Himalayas. In a book store, I found a book, by Margolis and Harmon’s, now long out of print (but available on the Net used) about the GR5. I was spending several weeks in France, and—the weather forecast being good—decided on the spur of the moment to walk the first week of the GR5, from Lake Geneva to Mont Blanc. Thus started a saga of walking the GR5and 52 (and re-walking two segments) that lasted for six summers over ten years(1992-2001), with visits to individual day walks in 2003 and 2009, 2011 and 2012. In 2009 I explored a new link in the Mercantour National Park which has received very little attention. The memories of these walks were and are still fresh as I put together and have modified this site. Yes, I do now enjoy medium-light backpacking in the US Western wilderness; but I still often prefer touches of civilization with my mountains, and the the European trails’ good food and lodgings.
In writing this site, I hope to bring the GR5 and particularly the GR 52 to the attention of more Americans and other English speakers. I want also to share some of my knowledge as to how to do the Alpine Traverse with a degree of comfort, a dollop of sightseeing, and an additional helping of adventure.
I have tried to double check all the routings, times, lodgings, and sources. Certainly, I will have made errors, and some of the trail routing will have changed. So I advise you the reader to double check everything yourself— once before you set out, and again, along the way.
If you have suggestions or questions, please do let me know, at author@grfive.com.
Sister Sites that I have also created:
EuropeBicycleTouring.com for information on and photos of great Western European cycle destinations, and my thoughts on how to self-organize, budget, choose a bicycle, transport a bicycle on trains, and so on.
Mayq.com for information on cycling within Paris, using public transportation with a bicycle, and how to access and follow bike paths and low-traffic bicycle routes to cycle out of Paris into the countryside in seven different directions, and also to the airports.