Mountain refuge Abri "Le Poteau"

Between soft crest and passing routes

Open "Le Poteau" appears in a half-mountain area of the Joux Valley where the relief is organized in looms, crêts and open forests, with access linked to the surroundings of Les Charbonnières and the Mouthe Route. The nearby terrain does not respond to the alpine model of an immediate high level, but it does respond to a landscape of cords and side changes that can extend the day if several itineraries are linked. In this context, the 1195-meter level places the coat in a strip exposed to time changes and useful as support for walking tours on the Jura vaudois.

Its practical interest is in the proximity of several modest elevations but well spread around the coat. Crêt Charbonnet is very close, while Crêt Gellin , Crêt Sapeau or Crêt Cantin help to understand it as an intermediate point to chain small summits and crests of the area, rather than as a basis for an isolated ascension. It can also serve as a reference to the Mont d'Orzeires within a favourable terrain for cross-border and orientation changes.

The coat also fits into a space along signposted paths of different scale. The presence of the European itinerary E4 and of local routes to Romainmôtie, Saigne Geret or the Grottes de l'Orbe strengthens its role as a point of guard or pause in linear days, not only as a destination in itself. This combination between local network and long-range route gives value to those who need to divide stages or maintain margin before variable weather.

It is appropriate to plan with autonomy. The registered sources are several kilometres away, so it is not wise to have immediate water in the vicinity. There are also no data here to anticipate equipment or internal conditions, so the decision to use Open "Le Poteau" must be based on a simple but complete preparation: water resolved from the beginning, reading of time and sufficient margin to move through a sector where distances may seem short on the map, but are easily chained between crests and trails.