Section 05

We made this two days' trip in July.
It is the fifth section of our long distance hiking tour through Austria.

We walked from Rabenstein/Pielach to Scheibbs/Erlauf, through a wonderful landscape called
"Alpenvorland", the Northern Pre-Alps,
with gently rolling hills, old oak and beech forests, farmland with endless meadows, and a lonely farmhouse now and then.


Please take your time to enlarge the pictures. It was such a beautiful summer day, the landscape is like paradise, so it is worth while!

Our tour starts in Rabenstein/Pielach, 344 m above sea level.

On a long and tiring road we walk up to Bramböckkapelle, 530 m above sea level.

A first rest in the cool shade of old oak trees.

Now our hiking trail follows an old Roman road.
It leads along ridges with little differences in altitude and with beautiful views over the country.

Our dog is so happy, she seems to fly through the air!

After a 10 km's walk, we reach Gasthaus Luft, 628 m above sea level.
It is closed - on vacation!

This is "Schwabeckkreuz",
a local place of pilgrimage with a pieta.
720 m above sea level.

Grüntalkogelhütte (886 m above sea level)

Here we enjoy a phantastic view over Alpenvorland, the Northern Pre-Alps,
towards the basin of the river Danube.

We want to spend the night in a village named Plankenstein, but the hostel is closed.

We are already very tired, after walking a distance of 24 km.

With the help of locals we finally we find accommodation in Texing.

The next day - it's raining cats and dogs!

Finally we reach Scheibbs/Erlauf where our journey ends.

My father was here in Scheibbs on summer receation when he was a boy.
Summer 1941.
He was hosted by family Schwarz, the local photographer.
He asked me to find out if the shop still exists.
Voilà, here it is:

We are wet to the bones,

even the things inside our rucksacks...

Despite the bad weather on our second day, we covered a distance of 13 km!

***