Mountain refuge Cabane des Ecouges

In this sector Vercors The pass is heavier than the stay. About 910 meters, around Saint- Gervais and Pont Chabert, Cabane des Ecotes it fits better as a free-of-support shelter than as an isolated destination in itself. Its practical interest is to serve as a day cut within long tours of the massif, in an area where the links between valleys, forest balconies and intermediate reliefs require the good management of effort and logistics.

Cross and link support

The cabin is in a useful area for those who move on continuity routes, especially in relation to the Grande Traversée du Vercors and with several day turns like the Tour des 4 Montagnes. In this context, you can make up for a small deviation if you want to divide long stages, reduce a too loaded end of the day or gain room for time changes. It does not appear as a high-mountain point, but rather as a half-mountain strategic coat within a long-range network of roads.

It can also make sense as a sober basis for moving to nearby reliefs of the sector, with references such as Bec de Neurre , Grand Molard or Signal of Nave, which help to understand the mountain character of the environment. More than great technical ascension, here matters the orientation between slopes, forests and cords of the massif, with land that can extend the day even if the heights are not extreme.

For autonomy, water does influence planning: there is a source about 1.26 km, reasonable but not immediate distance, so it is appropriate not to have supply next to the shelter and to organize the stage with margin. If used as a free shelter, it is wise to get there with what is necessary to spend the night and not to take for granted equipment, fuel or specific internal conditions. In a crossing area, that foresight makes a difference.