Hiking Tour: “Nord-Süd-Weitwanderweg 05 Stage 9: From Lackenhof to St. Sebastian/Mariazell”

The North-South-Long-Distance trail (Nord-Süd-Weitwanderweg, also known as the “05”) starts in the north of Austria at Nebelstein and ends in the south of Austria at Eibiswald. The trail is ~500km long, ~18 000m in ascent and the same amount in descent. The trail was initiated by Carl Hermann and officially established on the 25th September 1970. The trail is separated into 3 parts: the northern part from Nebelstein to Plankenstein via the Mühl- & Waldviertel and the Wachau, the middle part from Plankenstein to Trofaiach via the Ötscher, Hochschwab and Eisenerzer Reichenstein, and the southern part from Trofaiach to Eibiswald via the Pack and Koralpe. It normally takes 3 weeks to complete the entire trail.

	Nord-Süd-Weitwanderweg 05 – Checkpoints
	Lackenhof (alternate checkpoint to Ötscherwiese / Ötscher): Pizzeria Venezia or Fuchswaldhütte. Ötscher (alternate checkpoint to Ötscherwiese / Lackenhof): Ötscherschutzhaus. Terzer Haus: Gemeindealpe. Mariazell: Kiosk/Bar Jagasaftl (Erlaufseestraße 17).

Personal impressions:
Transportation:
Due to relatively good public transport connections, I’ve planned to accomplish this stage as a single day-trip. I used very early train and bus service towards the start point in Lackenhof Weitental (at the ski lift) and planned for the normally good working train service from St. Sebastian/Mariazell. However, due to severe snowstorms a few weeks prior to the hike, the train service was interrupted because of tree swamps, thus I had to use bus services from Mariazell.

Towards Lackenhof, I used the following means of transport:

1. RJX 368 from Wien Hauptbahnhof (05:28) St. Pölten Hauptbahnhof (05:57)
2. Bus 680 from St. Pölten Hauptbahnhof (06:06) Scheibbs Bahnhof (07:29)
3. Bus 655 from Scheibbs Bahnhof (07:36) Grubberg Abzw. Mariazell (08:05)
4. Bus 653 from Grubberg Abzw. Mariazell (08:10) Lackenhof Weitental (08:27)

On the way back, due to service interruptions of the Mariazellerbahn, I used the following means of transport:

1. Bus 189 from Mariazell Busbahnhof (17:14) Mürzzuschlag Bahnhof (18:20)
2. RJ 754 from Mürzzuschlag Bahnhof (18:33) Wien Hauptbahnhof (20:02)

 
The hike:
I’ve started the hike on a Monday morning (08:30), although I had to leave Vienna very early (05:00). The main reason was that I had a holiday on this day and also weather was nice. In addition I hoped for less crowds at the very popular Terzer Haus.
To start with, I truly love the Ötscher and have been on its top already several times. However, since I acquired the stamp from Gasthof Digruber at the Ötscherwiese on the previous stage and especially as I was told that the Ötscherschutzhaus was closed due to personal reasons of the tenant, I decided to skip the Ötscher. But the stage wouldn’t be complete without another summit, so I decided to hike up the Kleiner Ötscher which I’ve had never been before.
It turned out to be an excellent choice as the view from there towards the Ötscher but also towards the Gemeindealpe and the entire area is simply amazing. The hike up to the Riffelsattel is following a relative easy trail on the ski slope. The beauty of hiking up the Kleiner Ötscher is that it does not require a major detour. Actually, the first meters after the Riffelsattel are following the official  05  trail. A few meters afterwards there is a crossing. From here I had to follow the upper trail towards the summit of the Kleiner Ötscher and come back again afterwards.
I really enjoyed my breakfast at the Kleiner Ötscher. The weather was amazing, there was a slightly inverse condition, meaning clouds below me but clear weather at the summit.
After descending back, I continued following the official trail. Other than I expected from my previous stage, the trail was in a good condition and very enjoyable. The trail constantly offers amazing views towards the Ötscher and the Gemeindealpe and the weather became better and better. And everything got topped due to the nice autumn flair, having trees in a variety of colors from green over orange till red.
I also enjoyed the hike towards the Feldwiesalm. Unfortunately, the hut was not open anymore (they close end of September), but still I was able to enjoy a break there in the sun having my self-brought lunch and beer.
The tour then follows a nice gravel road through alpine pasture and meadows and passes by the (also already closed) Halter-Hütte Brach before hiking up relatively steeply towards the Terzerhaus (Checkpoint).
Unlike expected, many people used the last nice days of the year and the Terzerhaus was crowded. I managed to get a table inside as all seats at the terrace were occupied and had a warm meal combined with one or two cold beers. To be honest, I had already better food but I guess this is partly the result of a very busy day and exhausted personnel at the end of the season. Nonetheless, the view from the hut is simply stunning – especially to the iconic Erlaufsee. Getting the stamp at this checkpoint also turned out to be a small challenge. Although the stamp is accessible outside the guest room at the entrance hall, the stamp pad was dried out and I rarely managed to get a visible stamp. Lesson learned (I should have learned that already in Unterhub at stage 6): “Bring your own stamp pad”.
After my rest, I hiked over to the summit of the Gemeindealpe. Again, I strongly recommend this little detour as you get awarded with a stunning view once again.
The descent is first following a relatively steep trail which requires attention on partly slippery terrain. In case of being tired, I suggest to consider taking the gravel road instead which crosses the official trail various times but is much easier to walk (especially that late).
Just between the two lift stations, the trail turns right. There would have been the possibility for another beer, but I was already too tired so I decided not to stop and followed the trail downwards towards the stunning Erlaufsee. There is no way to simply pass by, so another short break to suck up the impressions and enjoy the view was mandatory.
The remaining tour just follows the paved road towards St. Sebastian. Initially I had planned to end my tour here at the train station which offers very convenient and direct train services back to St. Pölten and from there to Vienna. But I got confronted with the fact that the train was not operating due to the results of the severe snow storm in September that causes many trees falling on the track and actually damaged the track.
I therefore used the time wisely by doing a break at the nearby pub Kiosk/Bar Jagasaftl, got some beers there as well as a stamp before following the trail towards the center Mariazell and the bus station close-by.
After waiting not even half an hour, I had a good connection to the train station in Kapfenberg and from there using the train back to Vienna.

Summary:
Again, I found myself doing a very nice hike on this stage. I think the impressions that came with the inversed weather in the morning and the autumn colors amplified the experience. Also the detour up to Kleiner Ötscher made this trip absolutely unforgettable.
Only the need to wake up very early to arrive in good time and the unforeseen interruption of the train service from Mariazell were unfortunate but manageable.