Haute Route Day 4. The plan was to leave the Vignettes hut and ascend the Evêque pass (11,128 feet), on the Italian border.
However, an overnight snowstorm and low visibility sent us on a different route. We climbed down the glacier below Vignettes and the Pigne d'Arrola to the bottom of the mountain and then climbed slowly back up the steep side of another mountain along winding single track. From Plans Bertol, we took the trail up along the moraine ridges until we encountered a small glacier. Above us loomed the Cabane Bertol, which made the Vignettes hut location look easy by comparison. We were roped up and climbing along narrow rock ledges with 500 foot exposure to reach steep ladders that accessed the hut. Spent the night in the hut at 10,863 feet. 
Duration of walking:
7 hours. Length : 10 miles. Difference of elevationl : 3,770 feet up, 3,268 feet down.
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