Mönichkirchen - Vorauer Schwaig (via Studentenkreuz)

Access to starting point:
We leave the highway A2 Graz - Vienna / Wien at the exit Pinggau, Friedberg, then from the nearby roundabout we take the exit in the direction of the mentioned places and Vienna and Graz. A few kilometers ahead at the intersection of regional roads we follow the signs for Vienna and Mönichkirchen. Further on, we drive along Wechsel Straße, the mentioned road which is mainly ascending, but leave it at the junction for Mönichkirchen. This is followed by driving through the settlement to a larger parking lot above the settlement, which is located at the foot of the ski slope.

Path description:
On the right, eastern side of the parking lot the asphalt road continues, along which there are still some parking lots, and we ascend along it beside the ski slope. After a few minutes we arrive at a marked junction, where the path towards Mönichkirchner-Schwaig splits into two parts.
We continue slightly left in the direction of the Studentenkreuz cross and continue along the path across the ski slope (carefully due to crossing the track route which is used for descents in the summer season). We continue further under the chairlift; when the road turns left, we go straight onto the marked footpath, which in the forest quickly splits. At the junction by the hunting observatory we go left again, in the direction of the aforementioned cross. This is followed by a few minutes of somewhat steeper ascent through the forest, after crossing a grassy cart track the path gradually levels out. We continue ascending through the forest, and at the previously mentioned cross we reach the macadam road, which we follow left in the direction of Vorauer Schwaig and Hallerhaus (right Mönichkirchner-Schwaig). The path ahead leads us along a gently sloping macadam road, at the marked intersection we go straight ahead, further in the direction of Vorauer Schwaig and Hallerhaus.
At the next marked junction we leave the road and continue slightly left in the direction of Vorauer Schwaig (straight Hallerhaus). We continue easily through the forest, passing a smaller landmark, a little further we reach a cart track which we follow left; along it we soon reach a macadam road, along which we continue a gentle ascent for a short time. From the road we soon go slightly right and then moderately ascend. Higher up we cross a wider cart track (right Hallerhaus) and continue diagonally ascending. Somewhat further we temporarily step onto a macadam road and quickly leave it. A little further we cross the road once more, higher up we continue along it. A few minutes further we go slightly left from the road, while we continue diagonally ascending, this time through increasingly sparse forest. When we leave the forest along the cart track, i.e., the last section of the road, we quickly arrive at the Vorauer Schwaig hut.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in October 2022.

On the way: Studentenkreuz (1182m)