A new favorite phrase has quietly made its way into our vocabulary: semi-optimal. We learned it from Anne. And honestly, few things have ever described a trail run quite so perfectly.
The plan: our classic Sonnwendstein route – but backwards. Starting from Waldschlössl, passing through Payerbach, Küb, Schottwien, and Maria Schutz, then climbing the Gebirgsjägersteig, crossing the Sonnwendstein, and finally descending into Semmering. And maybe – just maybe – we thought about running all the way home from there. Theoretically.
Motivation? On holiday today. Probably hanging out somewhere on the Rax. Or at Katja’s. Each of us had at least one excellent excuse why we didn’t really have to do this today. And as for running back from Semmering – well, we happily skipped that part.
In reality, it all ended in the Kaffeehalle. Which honestly was no bad place to end up: excellent coffee, panoramic views, and that comforting feeling of having made one good decision – namely, taking the train. For that cappuccino, we could have climbed another 400 vertical meters. But we didn’t.
Semi-optimal – but with (vegan) milk foam.
The Sonnwendstein? Conquered again – and once again we decided to avoid it for a while. That trail stretches like chewing gum, and by the seventh tree root you start thinking: if we’re climbing this much, why not just head straight to the Rax? 😅
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And if someone asks how it went?
Semi-optimal – but beautiful.
📍 Route: Waldschlössl – Payerbach – Küb – Schottwien – Maria Schutz – Gebirgsjägersteig – Sonnwendstein – Semmering
📏 Distance: 22.4 km
⏱️ Duration: around 4 hours (for the most part, it still qualified as trail running)
⛰️ Elevation: +1300 m, -940 m
In summary:
No run back home, but a great coffee.
No motivation, but plenty of willpower.
No more Sonnwendstein… at least not until next month. 😋
For a day we weren’t really feeling it, it turned out just fine.
Semi-optimal is still a win.