The 48 Direttissima - in progress update

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skimom

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Duck!
Got a message from Mats last night around 11pm that Moosilauke, the Kinsmans and Cannon were done. He's headed up Franconia Ridge today and over to Owls Head.

Go Mats !!!!!
 
Thanks for the update Skimom. It looks like Mats is going to get a pretty decent weather window, with mostly cool sunny days and night temps in the 40's right through the upcoming week. Lucky Dog! I hope to be able to tag along with him for the Carrigain>Willey section.

Go Mats!
 
Got a voice mail message today from Mats he was at galehead hut around 3 or 4 he was thinking he was about 6 hours behind schedule and was about to head up S. Twin.

He also mentioned that the first day went as planned though it did rain some.
 
Yesterday, I set off on a scouting mission to meet up and hike with Mats for part of his Pemi leg of the trek. After talking to Dr. D, I knew they were somewhere between Owl’s Head and the Twins. After climbing Owl’s Head (little did I know that they were on the summit only 3-1/2 hours before me), I bushwhacked down the E. Side and went to 13 Falls. I asked the caretaker if he had seen a tall guy with a Swedish accent with 2 companions, but he had not.

I then headed up the Twin Brook Trail and soon encountered Poison Ivy (who I randomly meet about every 6 months on the trail) :) She told me that she had not seen them, and she was the 1st one of the day up the Franconia Brook Trail to Garfield due to her breaking all of the spider webs that crossed the trail. That meant that she was either ahead of them, or they made it up to Garfield the night before. Hmmmm…..

Just as I was topping out at the Galehead Hut, I encountered Swamp and Jen. They had been backpacking with Mats and providing lots of moral support (Swamp for 3 days, and Jen for 2), and they were on their way back down to the LW PL. They told me that Mats was at the hut and was heading out soon, so off I went.

I saw Mats getting his pack ready to leave, so I snuck up beside him and surprised him, and he was quite surprised to see me :D . After that we headed up the steep climb to S. Twin. He was in good spirits even though he is slightly behind schedule. His feet are doing well, and his pack is now down to approximately 45lbs :eek:

At the summit, Mats did his usual pushups and we took some pictures. Then we parted ways, with him heading over to N. Twin, then down to camp off the old Fire Warden’s Trail to Hale, and myself heading over the Bonds back to the LW PL.

Today he was planning a Hale/Zealand/Bonds Traverse, and expected to be camping tonight somewhere near the Hancock’s.

At the end of 9-2, he had completed 13 of the 48, and after today he is projected to be at 18 of the 48. Not bad for someone who is doing this totally unsupported and walking the entire route…

Go mats!!!!!!!
 
Very cool attempt he's doing. Met him on the Franconia Ridge on Saturday. Very nice guy, would love to see him meet his goal.

Go Mats!
 
Heard from Mats...

He's at the Vista Campground in Waterville Valley. Did the Osceola's and Tecumseh today.

23 and counting.

Go Mats !!
 
Go Matts

I rondevous'ed with Matts on the Tripoli Road this afternoon around 4pm.

I thought I might see him, as I traveled from WV to Lincoln, but on the West side of the height of land (or aka the Osceola parking lot). About 1/2 mile East of the HOL, there was the tall-one :D

We had a brief catch-up, as I needed to be in Lincoln by 4:15, I filled his water bottle for him (he complained that a lot of the brooks were devoid of water over this way), and off he headed for the Osceola Vista campground.

He started at 6am this morning, up & around the Hancocks, down the Kanc a piece, and then up & over the Osceola's. After setting up camp, he was headed up Tecumseh. It was a crystal clear day, with pleasant temps & cooler air up high. Ahhh.

Lucky guy for sure. A spectacular stretch of weather for his jouney~
 
Go Mats!!!!! We've been keeping up with your trek.
Hopefully we will see you soon. Good Luck!!!
 
Your Mats Tracking Number #298657SWEDE

Cath said:
It was a crystal clear day, with pleasant temps & cooler air up high. Ahhh.

Lucky guy for sure. A spectacular stretch of weather for his jouney~

Must be the weather gods were satisfied with the mushy snow and rain they gave Mats during his 48W attempt. :eek: The weekend looks a bit wetter, especially Sunday.

I imagine the sensation of an ever lightening pack must be something extra special on an endeavor such as this.

Hoping to hook up with the Mat Machine tomorrow if I can intercept him before Carrigain from the Sawyer River road.
 
I met up with Mats, Swamp, and Jenn on Friday evening at Lafayette campground (at the end of Day 1, contribured a Pemi Pale Ale, which is approved as moral support, as opposed to caloric support). On Monday, I carried a couple more IPAs into the junction of the Cedar Brook and Hancock Loop Trails, hiked the loop, waited around until about 7:30 pm, but then after consuming the two bottles, hiked out in the dark, as I did not want to leave "litter" in the wilderness (sorry, Mats!).

Weather looks great for the remainder of the trip, after a very soaking wet first day (even a day of mist is enough to get one soaking wet on many trails). Downside is less trailside water to pump, but that should not be much of an issue now until the Kilkenny traverse.

Go Mats!
 
I did the same trip on Monday but much earlier. Spent a long time hanging near the top hoping Mats would catch up. I didn't want to litter either ;)
 
Go Matts, go Matts. Maybe one day my son Mathieu (10 year old now) will
try to do the sam as you. Have funs.

Rejean. :)
 
Does anyone know where Mats is? His progress hasn't been updated in over 48 hours... I hope he didn't decide to conserve weight by disposing of his cell phone! Speaking of disposing of weight, I wonder if we'll even recognize him when he finishes!
 
Mats was on Willey summit this morning.

Heading over to the southern presidentials today and hoping to stay at Rocky Branch Shelter tonight.

29 down
19 to go

GO MATS !!!! WHOOHOO !!!
 
Voice mail today, not sure what time but he was at Eisenhower. Stating he was a day behind and looking for people to hike Kilkenny ridge on Monday.
 
Mats did Isolation thru Moriah yesterday. Did anyone see him ? Got a text from him from the summit of Wildcat D... 38 down.

He's doing the northern pressies today with Hamtero.

As of this morning, he says he's feeling tired and they got rained on last night, but still sounds in good spirits.

Being there for his finish would be really great. Anyone??
 
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