Moiazza? Day eight was our last full day and night on the AV1.  It was so hard to believe that our time was coming to an end.  Our notes for this last day said that the hike to Malga Pramper would be similar to the one we had the day before, so we decided to get up early and beat the afternoon storms.   Fortunately we had an excellent night's sleep and were able to get up and out the door before 8am.   (I know that doesn't sound very early, but when breakfast isn't often served before 7:30am, hitting the road by 8am seems early!)

The first 30 minutes of our hike were wet, muddy, slippery and downhill to Passo Duran. During those morning hours, the clouds were sitting high in the sky and we actually got a chance to take in some of the views.   

Tridente

Forte di Forcella Moschesin

At Malga Moschesin, an abandoned looking farm, we paused to have a snack and enjoy the sunshine before moving on.  Our notes said it would be nearly another three hours before we would reach Malga Pramper, but for the first time, the notes weren't very detailed and we weren't quite sure what to expect.  So we decided to not stop for long and to keep going.    From Malga Moschesin we hiked up and when we looked back, the views were beautiful.  We crossed more rocky screen slopes and about an hour later, we reached Forte della Forcella di Moschesin.   It was a fort from 1920 that was built to serve as a defense for the region.  It hasn't been well cared for and is mostly crumbled, but we found it interesting and stopped to walk through it.  Just minutes from there we arrived at the true forcella where the views were incredible.    We also realized that we had arrived at the pass about an hour earlier than our notes had predicted, that was a nice surprise.  

Views from Forcella Moschesin

From the forcella we had a short, steep descent to Malga Pramper.   The moment we picked up the trail to Malga Pramper, we left the Alta Via 1.   Had we been equipped for it, the final stretch would have been a day's worth of via ferrata.   We had done everything we could do on our own two feet and loved every minute.  We were disappointed that our time on the AV1 was over.   During that last 45 minute stretch we were joined by Christine, a woman we had seen a fair amount of since Passo Staulanza.  She was 67 and doing the AV1 on her own.  We were impressed and hope we can be like here 30 years from now!

Malga Pramper was a lovely place to end our time on the AV1.  Malga Pramper is a functioning farm and is classified as an agri turismo.  They have a small kitchen that feeds not only their lodging guests, but also people who come up to purchase fresh milk, cheese, eggs, grappa, etc.  The food here was amazing.  The farm only sleeps eight in a large bunkroom, but they have a newly remodeled and free shower and bathroom - and that particular night it was just the three of us staying there.  It was quiet, comfortable and very relaxing.   Amazing Dinner at Malga Since we arrived an hour or so earlier that we expected, we had time to eat lunch, rest, walk around, clean up.   I think we may have even caught a snooze.  It was lovely.  Late that afternoon, we went down to the kitchen area and the three of us purchased their fresh cheeses as a snack and then the owner made us a dinner of carbonara with zucchini and meat (a mix of cow and pork meat), schize (similar to a large fried cheese curd with cheese only two to three days old), cabbage, salami and panna montatta with blue berries.  It was heavenly.   I kept thinking how much my dad would love a meal there.  I really enjoyed chatting with the owner and she told us how they are only up there during the summer and it's where the cows go for vacation.  I believe it.  California doesn't have the happiest cows, those in the Dolomites do.  We thought that several times that week.

Pictures from this day are here.