Taborsattel – Donnerwand - Windberg - Baumtal

From the parking lot, you walk over the bridge and along the Kalte Mürz valley inward. The forest road passes a hunting lodge and meanders through the forest. Shortly before the first power line crossing after the hunting lodge, an inconspicuous path branches off uphill to the right at a flat part of the roadside slope, soon marked by cairns in the forest. It goes steeply uphill in switchbacks, over a ridge with railings slightly to the left (here yellow markers), gradually back to the right, back onto the ridge and along it uphill to a forest road. Follow this to the right until the next switchback, then turn sharply left. At the following right fork, continue straight ahead and reach a large wood storage area on the left side, offering a wide view of the valley. A few meters later, a steep pull path branches off right into the young forest, which you follow until you reach a small wooden hut. Behind the clearing, a path begins that goes half-right and diagonally uphill to a pass through the pasture fence. From there, continue diagonally uphill without a path over the pasture area (scattered red dot markers) until you reach an escarpment behind which lies a small meadow cirque. From there, it is not far up to the Taborsattel with a passage through the fence at its lowest point.

Behind the fence, ascend left on the slope, initially past the left edge of a large group of trees, then slightly changed direction to the right under the dwarf pines until you reach the clearly defined ridge path that the further ascent to the Donnerwand essentially follows. First, it goes uphill on a wide dwarf pine corridor along the ridge, then slightly right again downhill to a large clearing. Cairns mark the way here. At the left upper edge of this clearing, another dwarf pine corridor begins, this time somewhat left of the ridge, which you follow. At the next small clearing, the corridor turns in a curve right back to the ridge and leads uphill there to an alpine meadow under the widely visible summit cross of the Donnerwand.

For the descent towards Griesleitensattel, follow some cairns pointing south downhill, initially left near the rock edge, then somewhat further right beside the dwarf pines, until a dwarf pine corridor leads back left (cairns). Then it goes steeply downhill near the edge over a meadow to a flat piece, then becomes steeper again down into sparse dwarf pine forest, where a clearly pronounced cattle path coming from the right leads left downhill to the Griesleitensattel. At the wide saddle itself, keep rather right of the ridge and cross under the dwarf pines to the other side where you meet the marked ascent towards Windberg that you follow from here.

At Windberg, first follow the marking in the direction of Kleinbodengraben/Neuwald to the information board at the saddle. There, continue straight ahead and follow the tracks that gently descend in a large right curve past the Schusterstuhl until they reach the ridge above the Dirtlerschlucht. Here, go downhill on the ridge and pass a large doline on the left, then flat to the left until the marked path towards Lurgbauerhütte is reached.

For the descent into Baumtal, follow a series of yellow marked posts pointing northwest from the signpost east of the Lurgbauerhütte or directly from the Halterhütte and flat along the foot of the Amaißbichl to the edge of the plateau, where a clearly visible path leads downhill and right through a small dwarf pine field in a long traverse under the Amaißbichl. Follow the traverse until the border ridge with a clearly visible white border stone is reached and descend over this ridge to a saddle. Just before the ridge rises again, go about 10 meters down to the left at another border stone where, at a wooden signpost labeled “Baumtal,” a very well preserved path begins that diagonally goes left into the forest and directly down to the Baumtalhütte (unmanaged). On the clearing below the hut, this path continues about 10 m left of a small meadow saddle. The path is very well defined and partly marked with wooden pegs. It first goes downhill on the ridge, then in zig-zags through the forest, turns right at a signpost “Kaisersteig,” and continues in large zig-zag bends all the way down where it meets a forest road. Here, go right (down valley) until you reach a T-junction, where you follow the marking towards “Frein” to the left over the bridge and so return to the starting point.