Stage 8: Way of St. James Western Styria

Before leaving the village of Soboth, we should fill up our drinking and provisioning supplies, as there is neither a department store nor an inn to stop at until Lavamünd. We follow the signpost 06/03A in the direction of Lavamünd. Walk a short distance along the asphalt road - past a few houses - and turn left down a forest path to the remains of the Kappmühle mill, where you cross the Gaschitzbach stream. We follow the forest trail to the Laßnighube and the Karnitschnig estate (note: trail markings are on the farm building). Take the meadow path just below the house and walk to the "Jagahanslkreuz". From there we march back along a forest road down to the foot of the dam wall of the Soboth reservoir (way to the lake: 10 min.) at 1,000m above sea level. Immediately after the bend, leave the forest road and walk steeply uphill to the right. We keep to the trail markings on the trees. It is essential to look out for markings at junctions and crossroads, as they may be easily hidden by branches! Here it is worthwhile to use the available map material and to check the path again and again and to determine the exact location. After a total of about 3.5 hours of walking, we reach the Weintrattl crossing point. We have reached the highest point of our stage.

From the Weintrattl junction we follow the signs for the Jakobsweg (Way of St. James) and the markings of the European Long Distance Trails 03/06 and hike downhill towards Lavamünd. Pass the farmsteads of the Lorenzenberg Jankitz, Rechberger (chapel) and Roth to the former Strohmaier inn, where we make a detour to the church of St. Lorenzen. We then continue downhill, crossing the Multererbach stream for the first time, where we reach the Jamnik estate after a few minutes. A few hundred metres after the estate, we leave the road again and walk through a forest to the Hornig cross. We walk along the road for a short distance, follow the red-white-red markings down to the left along the edge of the forest - go down through the forest to the stream and walk along the Multererbach stream. At the end of the ditch, the Jakobsweg Weststeiermark meets the existing southern Austrian Jakobsweg. At the next farm, we walk between the stable and the residential house and after about 10 min. reach the Soboth road, famous among motorcyclists, which we follow downhill until the right-hand bend. There we take the hiking trail above the road, parallel to it. The last few metres to Lavamünd are on the road again. Immediately after the town sign, at the intersection with the Drautal federal road, you will find the Hüttenwirt, the first place to spend the night.

Arriving in Lavamünd, we have reached the end of the West Styrian Way of St. James. We have covered a total of 151.5km and can look back on 8 stages.

Review of the 8th stage