Preiner Wall Path

We start at the Prein village center bus stop. Shortly uphill along the street, past the inviting facade of the Kaiserhof, then we see straight ahead, a little way into the forest, a yellow signpost. When we reach it, it shows the destination as Holzknechtsteig – and that is the direction we want. In gentle wide switchbacks on road or broad forest road, we go up, well marked and following numerous helpful white-red-white arrow signs over delightful pastures. As we slowly begin to wonder when the altitude gain will finally appear, a forest path branches off sharply to the right, getting distinctly steeper. The ascent continues variedly on paths that are sometimes narrower, then again turning into a forest road. Finally, we arrive at the crossing at Bachingerbründl. To the left you reach the Holzknecht and Hans-von-Haid paths, but our route climbs briskly to the right. The path narrows to a trail and we come to a long gravel stretch that leads alley-like through dwarf pines. Here you need to choose your steps carefully not to "treat" those following with dislodged rocks. Then crossing a large protective scree several times, first rocky, then increasingly continuous rocky terrain, partly secured with wire cables, climbing quickly. Finally, on a longer traverse ascending to the right, mastering a somewhat exposed ledge with good footholds, over friendly rock to the plateau. On the trail we had repeatedly lovely views up and down, whether towards Payerbach or in the direction of Stuhleck. Upon reaching the Rax plateau, if we turn our steps to the left, we immediately stand at the highest point of our round, the Preiner Cross. From here you can also see the opportunity for refreshment in a hollow towards Heukuppe, the Neue Seehütte. It is open continuously from mid-May to November 1. Very well visible is also the Göbl-Kühn path towards Waxriegel, and from Trinksteinsattel the Raxgmoahütte greets on the summit. From the hut a few minutes back the way, then the Holzknecht path branches off right down into the valley. This proves to be a very steep, gravelly-slippery, immensely long debris chute that demands quite a bit. Unfortunately, the debris is not consistently of sufficient depth to allow the well-known fun of sliding down. Unfortunately, the ground repeatedly becomes exposed or a thin gravel cover makes the steep terrain a hard task. Going up the Holzknecht is probably somewhat easier, I think. Finally, the efforts end and we turn left into safer terrain and pass the entrance to the well-known Hans-von-Haid path. When I arrived there on October 1, 2016, it was a madhouse. A true human worm struggled up the bold secured sections, an unexpected, surprising sight! The further way down led across a debris cone (on a good path!) and looking back to "our" wall again into wooded areas and soon Bachingerbründl was reached. From here now the junction half-left to Großau or Edlach via the Maißriegel. Crossing several forest roads we reach the narrow asphalt road in Großau. This leads down to Edlach through delightful cultural landscape into the valley. Here, following the left direction to a fork and turning right, passing behind Villa Wartholz, we come into lovely Reichenau. Through this venerable spa town, past the festival house, under the black viaduct of the Semmering railway (Theierbruck) to Payerbach. We go up to the next bridge over the Schwarza and there turn left into Baurat-Schneider-Straße. This gently uphill to the small road tunnel under the Semmering railway and here to the right, a straight, paved path up to the station area of Payerbach-Reichenau.