Pfaffensattel - Moschkogelhütte
Starting point: Pfaffensattel (1372 m)
Starting point Lat/Lon: 47.57016°N 15.81394°E 
Time of walking: 2 h 45 min
Difficulty: easy marked way
Difficulty of skiing: no data
Altitude difference: 210 m
Altitude difference (by path): 490 m
Map:
Access to starting point:
From the border crossing Šentilj we continue driving on the highway towards Graz and further towards Linz and Salzburg. We soon leave Highway A9 and continue driving slightly to the right towards Vienna / Wien, proceeding on the expressway S35. From this expressway, we then merge onto Highway S6, still following the signs for Vienna. We leave the highway after the tunnel Spital / S. and then take the exit for Semmering. We continue following the signs for Steinhaus and Spittal / S., and shortly after turn left towards the settlement Birkfeld and the mountain pass Pfaffensattel. We follow the signs for the mentioned mountain pass, where we park.
Path description:
From the mountain pass, we head to the western side of the pass in the direction of the Alois-Günther-Haus hut, where we walk a few steps on a macadam road, then the path splits.
We continue right on the footpath (straight ahead the path continues on the road, and when the road is open, you can drive to the top for a fee), which leads us past a cross. A little further, we cross a poorer macadam road leading to a smaller quarry, then we continue through the forest for some time. Higher up, we reach the macadam road leading to the summit, but we follow it only briefly as the signs direct us sharply left onto the mountain path, which we continue on. Further on, we walk partly through forest and partly over shorter panoramic sections, higher up the forest ends.
We continue with nice views extending to the nearby Wechsel group; to the south we see Masenberg with its highest peak Pongratzer Kogel, ahead of us the view opens to Stuhleck.
When we approach quite close to the macadam road leading to the summit, we also reach the eastern ridge of Stuhleck peak, from where the view opens to the eastern peaks of the Northern Limestone Alps. This is followed by about 15 minutes of moderate ascent and we arrive at the Alois-Günther-Haus hut, a few steps further to the panoramic summit, which is the highest peak of the hills east of the Mur.
From the summit of Stuhleck we continue on the marked path, which starts descending from the summit towards the southwest with signs for the Rosegger Haus hut. During the descent, the path first leads past the upper station of the cable car on Stuhleck, then past the turn-off for the ski touring route to the settlement Rettenegg. The descent ends at the Schwarzriegel saddle, where a marked path from Rettenegg joins from the left, along which the educational planet path also runs.
We continue straight towards Mürzzuschlag and Roseggerhaus and gradually reach a belt of sparse spruce forest, where the terrain flattens and we continue along a shorter swampy section where the path runs on wooden boardwalks.
We quickly leave the mentioned section and reach the wind farm park, in front of which there is a warning sign that there is a life-threatening danger of falling ice pieces from the power plants.
Soon after the first power plant we cross a macadam road, before the second power plant we go left and return to the road which we crossed a little lower. We follow the road to the right and in a few minutes arrive at the indistinct summit of Grazer Stuhleck.
A light descent follows along the macadam road, we continue with nice views among the wind power plants. When the descent ends we begin to ascend again and in a few minutes of moderate ascent reach the pasture fence, which the road also crosses. Here near the pasture fence is the highest point of the Geiereck summit.
A light descent follows to a marked junction, from which we go right towards Moschkogel and Moschkogelhütte (left Pretul and Roseggerhütte). A few minutes of descent follow and with nice views we reach the Moschkogelhütte hut, which we notice on the left side of the road.
Pfaffensattel - Stuhleck 1:15, Stuhleck - Grazer Stuhleck 1:00, Grazer Stuhleck - Geiereck 0:15, Geiereck - Moschkogelhütte 0:15.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in May 2023.
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