At 1,734 metres, in the municipality of Prato Carnico, there is a malga that can be reached by off-road vehicle and already feels like an adventure before you even arrive. Its Malga Vinadia Grande.

Here grow thickets of green alder (Alnus alnobetula subsp. alnobetula), the ideal habitat for the black grouse. The male is easy to recognise: it has a lyre-shaped tail and black plumage with bluish reflections, turning white only under the wings and on the throat. With a little luck and a lot of patience, who knows.

But the mountain isnt just for looking at: at Vinadia Grande you can taste it. Alpine cheese, smoked ricotta and butter are made here, and the farms products can be sampled throughout the summer pasture season.

From Sauris, the way goes like this: once you reach Malga Pieltinis, continue along a dirt road towards Monte Pieltinis and, after the saddle of the same name, descend to the casera. And for those with legs and curiosity to spare, the trails continue: to the north you reach the malghe Malins and Festons, from where you descend to Sauris di Sopra (CAI no. 204); to the south you go to Pieltinis and Gerona, and then down to Lateis di Sauris (CAI no. 206).

Here the journey never really ends: you just change malga.