Hiking Tour: “Nord-Süd-Weitwanderweg 05 Stage 15: From Präbichl to Trofaiach via Eisenerzer Reichenstein”

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
	Reichensteinhütte Trofaiach: Tourism information center (Luchinettigasse 9)

Personal impressions:
Transportation:
I’ve planned to accomplish this stage as a single day-trip as both, the start and endpoint are very well reachable with public transportation.

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

1. Railjet 131 from Wien Hauptbahnhof (06:17) Leoben Hauptbahnhof (08:19)
2. Bus 820 from Leoben Hauptbahnhof (08:36) Präbichl Passhöhe (09:16)

On the way back, I used the following means of transportation:

1. Bus 820 from Hafning in Trofaiach Schwabergweg (16:06) Leoben Hauptbahnhof (16:28)
2. S 8 from Leoben Hauptbahnhof (16:41) Bruck/Mur Bahnhof (16:54)
3. Railjet 372 from Bruck/Mur Bahnhof (17:03) Wien Hauptbahnhof (19:02)

The hike:
My friend Robert supported me on this stage, thus we did the hike on a Saturday morning. We left Vienna in reasonable time and also made it to the starting point in Präbichl in good time (09:16). The weather was cold and foggy but dry which was nice from the temperature but limited us a bit in sight. Nonetheless, the fog made the ridge very dramatic, as one side was crystal clear (perfect sight towards Eisenerz) but a wall of white on the other side. The hike itself is scenic, even if one side is covered in haze.
At the ridge we both decided to take the alpine variant, also driven by the fact that on this day the trail was crowded and we would have faced a lot of counter-traffic on the easier route, which is also exposed and very narrow. In fact, going up is always recommended to do using the upper (alpine) route and the crux – a short iron ladder – is a welcomed variety.
When we reached the Reichensteinhütte hut (Checkpoint), we decided to first go up to the summit before sitting down and also the view from there rewarded for the effort as the weather situation (one side clear, the other covered in fog) made the experience very dramatic.
After a well-spent time in the hut having good lunch, one or two beers and getting the stamp we continued the trail and descended down, first to the Reichenhals. From there the tour became a bit tricky due to the loose gravel and its steepness and also the humid fog did not help either regarding good grip. However we managed and due to the fact that we were more or less the only ones doing this trail, we again got rewarded by meeting the real inhabitants… a flock of mountain-goats with their youngers.
After passing the Krumphals, the trail again becomes extremely scenic. The view down to the beautiful Krumpsee lake surrounded by impressive mountains and the view down to the valley is simply stunning. Once at the Krumpalm, the trail gets a lot easier but still offers the highlight of the Krumpfall water fall. The remaining trail is easy but not too exciting anymore. Once passing the Hirnalm, the trail follows first a gravel road (which is occupied by those who use the car to access the Hirnalm) and later by a paved road into the city of Trofaiach (Checkpoint).
As it was Saturday and I’ve planned to continue anyway later during the week from here, we skipped collecting the stamp on this day.

Summary:
This stage is again very nice and scenic. However, the ascent up to the Reichensteinhütte as well as the descent from Reichenhals towards Krumpalm requires a sure foot due to its exposure, steepness and sometimes loose ground. A tour that I strongly recommend, even as a day-trip outside the long-distance trail.