Hiking Tour: “Nord-Süd-Weitwanderweg 05 Stage 20: From Oskar Schauer Sattelhaus to Salzstiegelhaus via Gaberl”

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
	Oskar-Schauer-Haus: a.k.a. Sattelhaus Gaberl: Gaberlhaus Salzstiegelhaus

Personal impressions:
Transportation:
I’ve planned to accomplish this stage as the forth of an 8-day multi-day trip. As I stayed the night at the wonderful Oskar Schauer Sattelhaus, I was able to directly start the tour the next morning.

The hike:
This hike was part of an 8-day multi-day trip. After having an extremely demanding tour the day before which got compensated by an outstanding experience staying at Oskar Schauer Sattelhaus, I started this stage very relaxed and after having an excellent breakfast. Right after the breakfast, I was able to fill up my water supplies and also get the desired stamp . To be honest, it was not easy to say goodbye to the very friendly staff of the Sattelhaus and I will definitely come back!
However, the weather forecast indicated again a hot day and it should be proven to be correct again, thus I tried to make advantage of the cool morning hours and left the hut at 09:00.
The first ascent up to the Stierkreuz is an easy walk along first a forest road and later an easy and nice trail through the forest. At Stierkreuz, the tour continues following a very comfortable trail through the forest. A few meters before the Tumeralm, the shared route between  Zentralalpenweg 02  and  Nord-Süd-Weitwanderweg 05  ends and the tour continues following the trail through the forest towards Gaberl. The trail is never difficult but I found it sometimes overgrown. Once I passed the clearing of Scherzberg, the tour followed again an easy gravel road and then an easy trail through the forest.
Just before reaching the Gaberl, I decided to detour up to the summit of Plankogel, hoping to have a good view from there. Actually, it turned out that was a fail, only a steep and sun exposed hike up to a summit with some houses but no view. I then followed the trail down to the Gaberl (Checkpoint), trying to get my stamp first at the Dr. Otto-Koren-Hütte (not serviced), then at the closed Sportgasthof Lipp and finally succeeded at the Gaberlhaus.
After having lunch, an excellent cold Soda-Zitrone followed by one or two cold beers (it was an extremely hot day indeed!), I got my stamp and then continued my tour southwards towards the Altes Almhaus. After passing by the huge parking, the tour now follows again a nice trail through the forest which made the hot weather more bearable.
The trail ends at the Altes Almhaus and from there the route now follows a scenic but sun exposed trail westwards towards Rappoldkogel. Because I knew that I have to walk now a long time in direct sun and because it was an extremely hot day, I once more decided to have one or two cold drinks (beer) at the Altes Almhaus before I continued my hike.
The tour first follows a trail through a wonderful mountain pasture (but with no shadow) before it finally descends into a forest. At the end of the forest (in a saddle), I decided to take the alternative alpine route 505b, which leads up to the summit of Rappoldkogel. Although longer and much more demanding, I can strongly recommend doing this alternative as the view from the summit of Rappoldkogel is simply stunning!
After a short break at the summit enjoying the amazing view, I descended towards Hirschegger Sattel and the Salzstiegelhaus. The descent is fairly steep and requires attention. The crux requires some easy climbing (UIAA I), a sure foot and not being afraid of heights – but it can also be bypassed over much easier Normalweg. I still decided for the climbing route and I really enjoyed it . Once mastered, the trail leads back to the normal  05  trail and then on easy terrain following mainly a gravel road down to Hirschegger Sattel. Once I reached the saddle, I simply had to cross the street and I arrived at the Salzstiegelhaus (Checkpoint) for my next overnight stay.

Summary:
Again a trail with no major difficulties as long as one does not opt for the alpine route over the Rappoldkogel. However, I strongly recommend to go for the alpine variant as the view from Rappoldkogel is simply stunning! The trail itself is not very long, thus also relaxing after the monstrous tour the day before!