Mountain refuge Cabane de la Labère

Cabane de la Labère and planning in the Arize

The most clear thing when preparing a day in this mountain shelter is its territorial lace: it appears in the surroundings of Saurat , next to the axis of the D618 and in the area of the Loumet, within the department of Ariège. At 1291 meters, it does not respond to the profile of high-level pyrenaic shelter, but it does respond to that of useful coat on a medium mountain with marked relief, wooded slopes and cords that link with the Arize massif .

Their interest is more in supporting liaison routes than in a single concrete ascension. Around, there are trails such as the Bouchle de Brassac, the Tour du moulin or the Tour du Pic des Trois Seigneurs, as well as local routes to Le Picou and the Grasale. This context suggests a shelter integrated into a network of medium and long-day roads, useful for dividing the route or for extending a journey through the crest and mountains that separate valleys and villages from this part of Occitania.

The nearby terrain gains height quickly towards tops like the Pech de Therme , very close, or the Pic d'Estibat and the Rocher de Batail, which help to understand the character of the sector: a mountain of changing orientation, with steps between forests and open areas where meteorology can have a great influence on the march. It is not appropriate to raise it as a busy point of continuous passage, but rather as a rather discreet coat within an area where transit depends much on the chosen route.

In the logistics part, the most relevant data is water: the registered sources are several kilometres away, no immediate to the shelter. For a night out or a long day, it is necessary to have autonomy and not to trust to find supply next to the cabin. It is also reasonable to review the route in detail before leaving, because the variety of trails in the area does not involve homogeneous routes or identical signage on all sections.