Mountain refuge Cabane des Ecuelles

Here the terrain changes quickly and forces you to read the mountain well. At 2430 metres, in the surroundings of Crévoux and the Route du Parpaillon, Cabane des Ecuelles remains in a strip where open relief, stony slopes and nearby edges clearly replace the lowest and most protected sections of the valley. The closeness of tops as Le Grand Parpaillon , Montagne Pellat or the Sommet de l'Arête de la Ratelle places this coat in a dry mountain environment, exposed to the wind and with time changes that are quickly noticed.

Their mountain interest is to function as intermediate support rather than as a simple destination. In this part of the Altos Alpes you can fit in on the journey routes and in links to marked routes of the area, including the Tour de l'Ubaye by GR 56, in addition to serving as a point of withdrawal if the progression towards hills, peaks or summits is complicated by fog, storm or tiredness. This function is particularly useful in days where access combines more comfortable tracks or trails with increasingly mineral, less obvious and more exposed terrain.

The approach calls for a careful reading of the itinerary. The altitude and open nature of the sector make the requirement not only dependent on the level of the gap, but also on the orientation, the state of the land and the continuity of the route when entering areas of pedestal or loin. It is not appropriate to interpret this shelter as a comfortable point of automatic passage: in changing conditions it can make the difference between dividing a day well or extending too much a stage.

In logistics, autonomy remains important. There is a registered source about 2 km away, sufficient distance to not have immediate water next to the shelter. It is therefore necessary to reach a water margin and to review the real situation of the land and of the weather. In such an open enclave of Provence-Alpes- Costa Azul, exposure and isolation weigh as much as the distance on the map.