Gesäuse Huttentour

A 5-day hut trek through a quiet but beautiful mountain area. Despite the beautiful area, we did find this hut tour a bit disappointing, as you first descend into the valley each day and then climb back up to the hut. As a result, you don't walk much on top of the mountains and relatively much in the inhabited world.

Number of days: 5
Starting point: Admont
End point: Admont
Heaviness: Heavy
Characteristic: Quiet climbing area

What is the character of the trek?
The Gesäuse is a beautiful mountain area, but a quiet one. That is the biggest plus point about this trek. You don't actually encounter any cable cars with tourists on the mountains and you sleep in authentic mountain huts.

What are the highlights of the trek?
The highlights for us were the view from the terrace of the Ennstalerhütte and the first hour of hiking on the 3rd day from the Hesshütte. At these two points you could see the magnificent Gesäuse mountains.

How tough is the hike?
It is a tough hike. Each stage you first descend into the valley and then climb back up to the hut. This means you make a lot of altitude metres, making it a tough trek.

How are the facilities of the huts?
We found the huts disappointing. The views are beautiful from the huts, but the facilities of the huts are not optimal. The Ennstaler hut in particular was mediocre. There was no toilet with running water, no shower and you had to buy the (drinking) water by 1 litre. The view from the terrace was magnificent, but the mediocre facilities outweighed us in negative terms.

Do you need to make reservations for the huts?
This hut tour is a quiet one, but the huts are also small with fewer sleeping places. I therefore recommend that you do make reservations in advance.
You can make reservations via:

Mödlinger hütte 
Hesshütte
Ennstalerhütte
Haindlkarhütte

What is the suitable period?

The huts are open from mid-May to mid-October. There are actually no snow fields to be found, so the trek can also be walked between mid-May and mid-October.

How to get to the starting point?
Admont is easily reached by (night) train in about 11 hours.
Admont is 1000 km from Utrecht by car.

Day programme

Day 1: Admont → Mödlinger Hütte (7.5 hours)
15.8km; 1600m ascent; 700m descent
The first stage starts in Admont. This village has the oldest monastic library in the world with an interesting museum. From Admont, you walk through the valley and forests to the Klinkehütte. Here you can have lunch if you wish. After this it is a further 2-hour ascent to the Mödlinger Hütte.

Day 2: Mödlinger Hütte → Hesshütte (5.5 hours)
16.9km; 1100m ascent; 910m descent
The day starts with a descent to the village of Johnsbach. From the village you climb again via the alpine meadows to the Hesshütte where grazing cows await you. From this hut you will have great views!

Day 3: Hesshütte → Ennstalerhütte (8 hours)
18.6km; 1300m ascent; 1480m descent
A tough day with lots of altimeters! First of all, you walk through beautiful alpine meadows with low bushes. Look out for chamois here! We left early at the hut and were the first to walk on the path and were ambushed by a chamois. After the summit, you descend again on a forest path towards the village of Hieflau. The last bit you walk next to the B146, a motorway where cars drive quite fast. We found this a very unfortunate part. In the village, you can possibly go to the small supermarket for some new snacks. After the village, you climb another 1000 metres to the Ennstalerhütte.

Day 4: Ennstalerhütte → Haindlkarhütte (5 hours)
14.7 km; 600m ascent; 1000m descent
On a narrow and steep forest path, you descend in 3 hours towards the village of Gstatterboden. You enter the village via the Infocentre. We decided to stop our hut tour here and take the bus to Admont. In fact, from Gstatterboden you walk 600 metres back up to the Haindlkarhütte and the same the following day back down to the valley.