Hiking Tour: “Nord-Süd-Weitwanderweg 05 Stage 17: From Leoben to Mugelschutzhaus”

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
	Leoben: Tourism information center (Hauptplatz 3) Mugel: Mugelschutzhaus

Personal impressions:
Transportation:
I’ve planned to accomplish this stage as the first of an 8-day multi-day trip, starting in Leoben and making it all the way till Eibiswald. This meant that I had the full backpack with clothing for 8 days and the equipment for overnight stays at huts.
As the weather forecast was to be very hot but at least dry over the next days and since I did a lot of other trips on the Nordalpenweg 01 the week before, I planned to have a short and easy kickoff. Thus I planned for a half-day trip for this tour.

To get to the starting point I used the following means of transportation:

1. Railjet 533 from Wien Hauptbahnhof (08:24) Leoben Hauptbahnhof (10:24)

The hike:
I’ve planned this stage as the kickoff of an 8-day multi-day trip, thus I planned for a shorter trail. The reason was that the week before, I just came back from a multi-day tour doing the Nordalpenweg 01 and also did the day before the previous stage. I used the night back home to get fresh cloths and prepare for the longer trip. In addition, I got aware that I had to replan my next stages due to the fact that the Gleinalmschutzhaus was not serviced and thus it would be impossible to have an overnight stay over there.
As I was not able to get a stamp on the day before in Leoben (for the first time the municipal office refused to provide me a stamp), I tried my luck this time at the tourism office and after a super nice chat with the ladies working there being interested in the details of the tour, I got my stamp without any problems .
I also decided to have lunch at one of the restaurants in the city center and then started my hike by following the official trail first up to the Maßenburg castle. The castle itself was closed due to renovation but the more interesting viewing platform in the back was accessible and allowed me to have a stunning view on Leoben and its surrounding mountain scenery.
I then continued on the official trail, mainly trough forests being happy to have some shadow on a really hot day. I decided to skip the break at Pampichler Warte and do it later at Schmollhube as the hike now became steep and I wanted to use my momentum . Once I reached Schmollhube however, I noticed my mistake as the hut was closed and although there were signs of a self-service possibility, I was not able to find anywhere a drink to buy . Thus, I continued the tour eastwards towards Mugel and found myself with a happy surprise at the Gstattmoaralm. Not only there was an empty bench with an amazing view, but there was also beer cooled in the water well. After having two very refreshing cooled beers, I continued my final ascent towards Mugel via the Julius Kienzle Weg. The trail is in the beginning fairly steep but gets easier the closer you come to the summit of Mugel.
I finally arrived at the Mugel and the Mugelschutzhütte (Checkpoint) in good time. After having some refreshing beers and getting my stamp , I also got excellent food! Turned out that the current tenant is a professional cook – and that you could taste!
After my dinner, I continued having a super nice conversation with the tenants before we enjoyed a super nice sunset and finally went to bed. Turned out I was the only guest this night, got very special and friendly treatment and slept super well in the comfortable beds at the Mugelschutzhütte.

Summary:
Overall, an easy but very scenic stage. Although it was a super hot day, the stage was doable since it was most of the time following trails through a forest with a lot of shadow. The best however was the overnight stay at the Mugelschutzhaus, the excellent food served and the super nice tenants running the hut! Thanks to Roman & Michaela who made my stay there an unforgettable experience!