NH 48 Direttissima North to South 8/13 - 8/23

[Mats Roing]

It's always more interesting with a hike where you don't know the outcome.......and you have to push yourself to set the stage for the next day......each day is dependent on your previous day's effort.....and you can't have a zero day since you will run out of food.....The NH 48 is just about right to be able to pull it off. If it was 50 miles longer and another 20,000' vertical feet I'm not sure it's physically possible.....maybe if you have stellar weather and can shave some weight on food....Jason Ferris did a great effort on the ADK 46 last year I believe......I bet he can pull it off if he tries again.

Another challenge would be to do the AT with only 10 re-supplies.

The key thing is to develop a system to keep your feet going....the legs protest maybe the first few days but then they can go on forever so legs are no issue........how can you keep your feet happy and shoes dry if it rains multiple days in a row? Portable shoe-dryers feasible? I will certainly try the finger socks next time and be more disciplined with switching socks and apply vaseline to reduce friction. Something which I might do next time is bring two pairs of shoes and switch between. One thing which is not needed is underwear......they just soak up more sweat and moisture......don't skimp on your tent (ie just bringing a tarp to save weight is a good recipe for reducing your chances) - .....looking forward to set camp and have a good meal is always good for morale and motivation......always good to carry a heavier loaded pack during normal hikes. Everything you do is training......keep experimenting but always prioritize safety.......maybe I could have pulled it off if I did the bushwack up to the col between Flume and Liberty and saved 10 miles or so.....I just thoughts it was unsafe in the rain and steep terrain there is in there......decision making is part of charm also

Just some thoughts to share with you.......hope you enjoyed the show
Some might wonder why I do it "live" so people can watch on-line......I always enjoyed entertaining people I guess. Life is a party.....

 

[MEB]

Hey Everyone!

Thanks for all the kind words, support and encouragement you gave as we embarked on this crazy adventure!

I thought I was in shape after doing the Long Trail earlier this summer but when you add an extra 25 or so punds to your pack, more mile and lots of elevation the body rebels just a little bit (well mine did at least).....perhaps had I done some "training" hikes with the heavier pack (as I was advised to on many occaisions) maybe my feet would have faired better....one of many lessons learned I didn't really get any blisters....just terribly sore feet from a previous surgery and ten sausauge toes which stopped me on the morning of day 6.

Day 1 Killkenny Ridge - my first time going the long haul from Cabot to Waumbek and what a wonderful and beautiful trail! Got to do some redlining on Rt2.

Day 2 - More redlining on Rt2 to Castle Ravine Trail. Very hard to walk by the Water Wheel! Long day up to Edmonds Col but it was such a beautiful day to be out hiking....heading down Daniel Webster to Barnes Field was exhausting and I think I was zombie by the time we arrived....sorry if I offended anybody but I was too tired to talk or even think

Day 3- Got to redline part of Rt16 to Stony Brook! This day the heat got to me and not to mention complete exhaustion.....my recovery time after a long day requires a little more than a few hours sleep as I found out on the way up Moriah....Had a few crying spells and we cut the day short at the Imp Shelter.

Day 4- Amazing what sleep, rest, food and lots of water can do for the body and soul! The Carter-Wildcat Range is one of my favorites and we got yet another wonderful day for this traverse! Coming off of the Wildcats was tiring...fell in the river at the bottom....kind of glad I did as it was sooooo refreshing!

Day 5- We each had about a liter of water to get over to Isolation and then up to Washington....but another day of amazing weather so it was not too bad. Southern Pressis are always a joy....except for the decent down the Webster-Jackson Trail.....this one did me in...probably fell about 5 or 6 times on the way down.

Day 6- Woke up with ten sausage toes and could barely walk so I knew that was it for me. Had a great rest day at the Highland Center....read a book and stayed off my feet all day long! What a treat! Met Bob&Geri earlier in the morning and they offered to take me back to my car but I ended up getting a ride from Charles. Mats had a 30 mile day or so over the Willy Range to Carrigain and than out to Sawyer Pond Trail.....I met him around 9pm or so at the Olivarian Brook Trail.

Day 7- I headed over to Tripoli Road and tested my feet out on the Osceola's while Mats headed out over Pass-Whiteface and the Tri's. Not too bad since my pack was pretty much empty Met Mats on top of Tecumseh later that night.

Day 8- Mats headed over the Osceola's and I met him on the other side at the Greely Ponds Trailhead. From there we hiked on over the Hancocks and then along the Cedar Brook Trail....my feet were hurting and I turned both my ankles....nothing new for me but it's just so frustrating!

Day 9- Woke up early and we headed over the Bonds....I cut the day short and headed to Galehead Hut while Mats took the long way around going over Zealand, Hale and the Twins....I got to the hut around 12:30 and slept for about 3 hours.....big storms rolled through with lots of rain on lightening but nothing seems to stop Mats....I think he got to the hut sometime after 6 or so and he probably would have gone further had it not been raining...amazing! Seriously, the guy never get tired!!! No fair!!!

Day 10- Started the day out by heading up to Garfield and than down to 13 Falls....hot and muggy day with some occaisional rain. Heading up Owls Head slide we had to pass by the ramains of a dead moose....it smelled horrible!! A little further along Mats was attacked by a giant red spider! We made it to the Osseo Trail around 5:30 and I headed for Lincoln Woods while Mats headed up to Flume and over Franconia Ridge....he got out of the woods around 2:45am....

So...that is a quick recap of this crazy adventure! I'm sure Mats will have more to add....Never before have I hiked with someone with so much energy and enthusiam.....never once did Mats complain or show signs of quitting ...even when his feet were in terrible shape....he has great gift of looking at things in such a postivie way and always had a smile on his face and somehow manages never to get tired....thanks so much for having me along

So, maybe I will give this another try next year....lots of good lessons learned along the way and lots of good memories made!

-MEB

 

[TEO]

Day 10- [...] Heading up Owls Head slide we had to pass by the ramains of a dead moose....it smelled horrible!!

Don't I remember someone's TR earlier this summer mentioning a young moose seemingly stuck on the Owl's Head slide?

 

[Darl58]

Amazing attempt by the two of you and smart decisions made along the way..

We want to keep you on the Mountains and not rehabbing injuries! can't wait to hike with you again soon!

Congrats!!!

 

[mtnpa]

...Now I see on the tracker that they were (or at least Matts's iPhone was) ascending Flume around 7:30 p.m. . . . from the Lincoln Woods side!

I overlooked Owls Head. We were in the right place at the wrong time.
That miscalculation almost got us arrested

I propose a renegade VFTT hike to Owls Head with picks and shovels. Nobody leaves until the highest point is around 3980.
We can save you guys a day on your next attempt

MEB do you think the red spider killed the moose?

 

[TrishandAlex]

Don't I remember someone's TR earlier this summer mentioning a young moose seemingly stuck on the Owl's Head slide?

Yes, that was my TR. The young moose was there (alive and standing) when we went up the trail, and was standing in the exact same spot a couple hours later when we came back down. It seemed dazed, and it was obvious something was not well.

 

[Mats Roing]

Day 1
We had the fortune of being friends with a family living next to the trailhead so the evening before we had a great dinner with them and MEB and I felt mighty spoiled. With a 6:14am start we took off up Mt Cabot Trail with our loaded packs.......with MEB as company time flies by quickly and the load feels lighter somehow.......it was still a big relief to take off the 70 lbs pack by the Kilkenny Ridge intersection and head up MT Cabot pack less No moose on the summit this time but happy to reach the summit nevertheless. Pushups and summit photo and off the summit we went. We did follow the herd path to the "true summit" in case someone would ask ;-)

After snacking away we put on the packs and went toward the Terraces.......slow going now......but a beautiful trail it is!

After the last Terrace the endless slanted downhill to Willard Notch sucked some energy out of us so we took a long break by the trail intersection.....it actually seems to be three intersections down there so I can see it could be confusing sometimes.

I forgot my watch with the altimeter which I think was nice......I tend to be obsessed with altitude otherwise......and nice not to worry about time......and the coming days became like we woke up when it got light and we broke camp and started hiking.....and then hiked until it got dark and we set camp......a natural rhytm....

The trail was in great condition up the first Weeks and we just rolled over it down into the next notch.....however it started raining now and we took a break under a tree and waited for 15 minutes or so and then we got going......it still rained but it soon tapered out. Everything was wet now and we were happy to take a break on the Middle Weeks. Shoulders started to hurt a bit now......but it had stopped raining We went over the last Week and started the ascent up to Waumbeck......it seemed to take forever and we named the peak before Waumbeck "Dissapointment Peak" since it looks like you are coming up on the summit but then it descends and you see Waumbeck 1/2 mile ahead of you or something and you go down the little dip before starting the ascent up to the real summit. We heard thunder south of us so we got off the summit and over to to Starr King where we took a longer break by the fireplace before heading down. Body started to ache a litlle all over the further down we came, but finally we came to the empty trailhead parking lot and we headed down to Route 2. There is a sidewalk you can hike on for the first 1/4 mile or so before you are forced out in the road competing for space with logging trucks, semis and other wheel-equipped vehicles. It's always traffic on this road it seems. It was a bit after 6 when we entered route 2. The monotonous striding makes things ache a bit more at the end of the day but again - having MEB as company is always great and around 7:30 or so we came to the campground by Six Gun City and paid the $27 for our tent site. Hot showers are free and they have electricity and water on each site......always nice to set camp for the night....and dinner tasted great despite being freeze-dried ;-)

zzzzzzzzzzzzz....................to be continued.....

 

[Mats Roing]

Day 2- 8/14/09
The campground is out in the open so there was a fair amount of dew on the ground. Sun came up before we took off and we also got a nice visit from Cruddy Toes who lives up the street in Randolph. A left a ziplock with stuff I figured I didn't need (like a knife etc). And we dumped the trash before leaving the campground and onto route 2 eastbound.....soon past the 115 intersection and the uphill to the yellow house on the left, the rock fire tower on the right. we stopped at the waterfountain where a dude stopped and told us they expected a heat wave the next four days and temps up to 90 degrees. We were not sure if we were happy about it but it's still a lot better than rain

The Water Wheel was tough to ignore but we did.....it got warmer and warmer.....we passed Bowman Inn where I stayed the last night two years ago when I completed the S to N Direttissima. I wonder if it's still the two boyfriends who runs it. It seems to be in great shape. Right when we stepped off route 2 onto the TH for Castle Ravine MEB rolled her ankle bad on the asphalt border. We continued into the woods and figured out after a while where to cross the river.......plenty of water in it it seemed. We continued up on the south side of Castle Brook and soon reached the intersection to Castle Ridge. Due to the hot weather and abundance of water in the ravine we decided to stay in the ravine since we could refill water many times and not have to carry so much. We crossed the brook again and took a longer break. Our original plan was to try the Israel Ridge Trail but as mentioned above we stayed low where there was water.

About seven crossings later we finally reached the more bush like terrain where it got steeper and more challenging with lose rocks etc. It was mightly slow going with the heavy packs but around 2:30pm or so we arrived at Edmands Col where we took a long break.

Refilled water at the spring on the east side and left our packs for a trip up Jefferson. We met some thru-hikers coming off Jefferson but not much other people and we had the summit to ourselves. Found a good place for push-ups and then we headed down to the packs.

Another break and MEB took off towards Thunderstorm Junction and she was waiting for me there when I arrived. We dropped the packs and forgot to bring the camera I believe. There were five other hikers on the summit of which two were thru-hikers we met at Edmands Col earlier. Back to T-storm junction and down to Madison Spring Hut where we refilled water for the last time......a bunch of people hang out outside

......a little later the bongo drums started from the kitchen crew and we knew food was being served......we took off up Madison since we were running late and wanted to get below the timberline before it got dark. It was 6 pm by now. Windy and sunny on the summit and we had a silent moment for Ricardo Cassin who recently passed away at age 100. Hamtero did text me the news the previous day. Ricardo put up hundreds of new routes around the world including the difficult Cassin Ridge (South Ridge) on Denali. He also led the expedition for the first ascent of Gasherbrum IV, Pakistan, in 1958 where Walter Bonatti and Carlo Mauri reached the summit.

Meb in front of me as usual:

Shadows of Adams and Madison over the Carters:

We headed down Daniel Webster Scout Trail with delicate steps since we had been on the trail for 11 hours already. Always at the end of the day the trail never seems to end. At 8:11pm we put the headlamps on. And the decent went on and on and on......we tried to gauge our progress vs. the blinking light on Pine Mountain. Body was aching everywhere and we decided to go to the TH instead of the short cut to Barnes Field via the logging road since Juniper said she would meet us by the road. We reached Dolly Copp and started north through the campground and soon we saw a headlamp bopping.....it was Juniper who was there to meet us! Nice to get escort the last part into the campground:

......we were both eager to set camp and eat. Did talke a bit with Swamp, Larisa, Leaf, Farmer, Marc Howes etc before turning in for the night.

So far things went according to schedule.........but it was late before going to bed. I got some instant karma by accepting a bin of melting ice cream from Mardi....I dropped it all in front of the tent and it got all over MEB's backpack........unsupported is unsupported I guess.........However we accepted a couple of bottles of unfiltered water (beer). The NeoAir mattresses we used are excellent......packs small and very cushioned and doesn't slide around.......

zzzzzzzzzzzzz........

 

[Mats Roing]

Day 3 - 8/15/09

Slept in this morning since we had a couple of 20+ mile days in us and we felt it. Did laundry, breakfast and packed up for the road walk down to Stony Brook. MEB's foot was bothering her but we continued and found some artifacts by the side of the road like a Blackberry and a rubber fake snake.

Went over the bridge by the trail head and we discussed different options and decided to retape MEB's foot and continue and see if it worked out. It was a crucial time here since bailing was one option considered. It was very warm already although not much after 9am. We kept going......

At the last creek crossing before it got steep we took a longer break and loaded up with water. MEB's foot felt ok and she got a head start up to the col while I packed up my pack (which always seems to be a long process). It was mighty warm but eventually I found MEB sitting in the shade by the col munching away and ready to rock n' roll up Moriah. I took the camera and we left the packs and started up towards Moriah. It was a tough day for MEB and we later figured out dehydration was an issue here. The foot seemed to be doing ok. At one point MEB asked if I farted but what happened was that a thru-hiker caught up with her and he didn't seem to have washed his clothes for five months or so. Some beer drinking hikers were on top of Moriah when we got there and we took some pictures and rested before descending.......dehydration set in and MEB got a bit slow on the descent. We met Leaf and Isabelle close to the intersection and we talked with them for a while before we had to shake n' bake.

We decided to head to Imp Shelter for the night and have a rest day due to the issues we faced today. MEB was a bit wiped today:

But a good nap rejuvenates:

Got the group site which we eventually shared with a family of three which were somewhat grumpy since the father had forgotten the fuel for the stove and the teenage daughter was starving after having descended North Carter and just wanted to go home.......it was a nice evening however and nice to set camp early.......nice tent site keeper checked to see if everyone was fine.....talked Bibler tents with another couple who camped on the platform down the trail......beautiful sunset and soon we were zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......next episode......MEB recovers and shakes and bakes over Carters and Wildcats and up Glen Boulder......and Mats slices his tongue by licking olive oil of a sardine can.....stay tuned....

 

[Adventurous]

I'm patiently waiting for the continuation of the M&M adventure I heard about the sardine can incident...hope the tongue is healing.

 

[Mats Roing]

Day 4 - Sunday 8/16/09

After a good night's sleep at the tent platform at Imp Shelter we took off pretty early. MEB took off ahead of me as usual and told me I see you in two minutes.....as usual she was moving swiftly and I didn't see her until the top of North Carter. It was a beautiful sunrise and it was nice to get up the steep trail to North Carter before it got too hot. Ran into a father and son at the steep section. They were doing a traverse of New Hampshire (maine to Vermont) on mostly the AT. We saw them many times the next few days. On North Carter I forgot that it's not an official peak so I went down and did 10 pushups with the pack on.......I probably was exhausted or though it was so much effort to get up the darn thing it must be an official summit on the 48 list.....regardless I think North Carter deserves a lot of respect.

The Carters were beautiful and we lapped the father and son many times across the ridge. On Carter Dome we had the enjoyment of running into Jason Ferris and Gillian!

They were doing some Dry River stuff and were moving in the opposite direction so we said bye and headed toward Carter Notch Hut. Here we ran into Larisa and Swamp who just came over the Wildcats. We filled up water and I opened a lovely can of sardines in olive oil.....can't waste the oil on the lid and my tongue tecnique was off today and I licked along the edge of the sharp lid........I felt the sharp edge going deep and my spine was shivering.....went over to some bushes and spit out a mouthful of blood.....oh oh.....does this heal fast? How much blood am I gonna lose? Another hiker whoi saw me said that if I accumulate more than a pint of blood in my stomach I could run into issues........I kept spitting out.......I showed the slice to Swamp who didn't like what he saw - "too much sharing Mats" he told me. After 10 minutes or so the bleeding seemed to have subsided......Wildcats were waiting for us......so off we went after saying goodbye to Larisa and Swamp. Wildcat A came pretty quick and I wrung out my shirt at the top again.......a testosterone driven hiker with brand new gear showed up......he was in a hurry it seemed and was giving us all kinds of advice and we asked him to take a photo of us.

On the way up Wildcat D we ran into some friends of MEB. Of course I forgot their names.....it's tough to have turned 30 ;-) We took a break by the tower and for some reason the summit had several Jewish rabbis visiting. They asked us if it wa ok to head down the AT section to route 16 in their formal outfits......and we totally encouraged them.....just kidding.....we told them it's a few sketchy places they need real good footing for and their poilshed black shoes would not do it. They had a bunch of cute kids in old school clothing with them as well. Almost forgot the push-ups in the rabbi commotion. The never-ending descent to route 16 started......and the sun was scorching us good.....

MEB is done with peaks east of route 16 (shortly after falling into a river for the first time in her life) :

And up the Glen Boulder Trail we went....refilled water at the last creek.......filled a lot since we were gonna overnight where there is no water.....MEB was waiting for me at Glen Boulder......I was exhausted and needed something to eat......I had neglected refueling for a while and paid the price for it......we went up another 700 vertical to find a couple of established tent sites on the side of the trail......right before heading into the 3/4 mile long wooded section at 4,400 feet. The sun was down and it got dark 30 minutes later......a beauitful camp indeed.....zzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[Mats Roing]

Can someone give me a tip on how to paste in photos from picasa?

I tried on day one and here........I use the http link and it shows up as "X" in ther post........geek-impaired Swede.....

 

[DougPaul]

Can someone give me a tip on how to paste in photos from picasa?

I tried on day one and here........I use the http link and it shows up as "X" in ther post........geek-impaired Swede.....

Use img tags instead of url tags.

Thus
{img}http://link_to_jpeg{/img}
(use square brackets instead of curly brackets)

Markup language for this BBS (BB code): http://www.vftt.org/forums/misc.php?do=bbcode

Doug

 

[Mats Roing]

Thanks Doug!

Look at Day 1 now

 

[DougPaul]

Thanks Doug!

Look at Day 1 now

Looks good from here...

Doug

 

[Mats Roing]

Day 5 - Monday 8/17/09

Woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the Wildcats:

Cooked up breakfast and off and hiking.....a bit short on water since no water source overnight........once up on Davis Path we dropped the packs and I brought a cup in case we found some water on our way down to Isolation.

Once again it was a delight to be without packs........sun was rising steadily and it got warmer......and with no water our throats got a bit dry and thirst set in.....oh well.......only six miles without water......MEB had 1/2 liter in her pack to look forward to on the return to the packs. Isolation came and we summited with nice views. MEB approaching the summit:

Ran into a few people on Davis Path and it seemed somewhat congested once getting up back to the packs.

The water we finished pretty easily and we were off to Washington to drink more......just a few more miles to Washington.......dehydration was felt......I think suffered most with my extreme sweating.......

...we dumped our packs again at the intersection to Crawford Path and just brought the lid of my pack with some bottles and powder and some bars. Forgot the camera of course.....I felt totally wiped once entering the cafeteria and loaded up with water.........after two liters I started to feel better again. The father and son from the previous day showed up. They had stayed in Pinkham Notch overnight and skipped the northern pressies. The son was talkative as usual. MEB took care of the conversation since I was still recovering. 1/2 hr later we took off down to the packs after the summit procedures........

A wise man told MEB he had a bigger First Aid kit if we needed it when MEB was retaping the feet down by the packs. And off to LOTC hut......

.....took another 20 minutes there in the cool inside of the hut. It was pretty warm outside by now. Was able to post on vftt since great reception. And on to Monroe for nr 14:

We were eager to get lower on the ridge and eventually get into the shade of the trees so we kept trucking down.......Eisenhover came pretty soon and Pierce.....

......and Mizpah Spring Hut......where we took another 30 or so. The father and son were there so the son was talking up a storm once he saw us. Off to peak nr 17 ( Jackson).......meet some more people on the way but Jackson we had to ourselves in the evening sun.

Took a break on the summit before heading down the Jackson Trail which always goes slow.......tough in the upper part and then it just goes slow. MEB started to fade and she fell a few times.......after an eternity we managed to get to Highland center right before it got dark and after waiting by the front desk 15 minutes we finally got a couple of bunk beds. We showered and cooked and soon went to bed. MEB was hurting so it was good to stay here overnight........zzzzzzzzzz

 

[Mats Roing]

Day 6 - Tuesday 8/18/09

Went up at 4am to get going since the goal was to make it down to the Kanc area. MEB was limping in to the cooking room and could barely walk........not much further analysis of the situation was needed........

....got my feet taped up and got rid of some stuff I wasn't going to need for the rest of the trip and out the door I went around 6am or so.......up the A-Z trail and Tom for nr 18:

And Tom:

It was another warm day from the onset and I had water with me to get me to the filling stations before Carrigain. Didn't want to go to Ethan Pond to refill.......Field and Willey came pretty fast and Willey felt mentally good since it was nr 20........28 to go......and down the stairs towards Ethan Pond Trail and 3.1 miles there before Shoal Pond for another 4 miles or so. I love Ethan Pond Trail with the abundance of bog bridges....although not everyone agrees to the 0.1 mile measurement to the shelter:

......took a longer break 1/2 mile into Shoal Pond and aired out my feet and changed socks. Some of the open areas of Shoal Pond was like a sauna.....and always these guys were on the trail:

Observe the pack is used as a drying rack for yesterday's clothes:

.......it took a long time before Stillwater Junction showed up. Filled up water before I got to Desolation Trail and then the neverending uphil began.......some of it is on the steep side..

..but it was in the shade mostly which was highly appreciated.......I thought I was close to the summit and started to push harder........but it was always another stretch after each turn....finally around 4pm I saw the structure of the tower in front of me......put down the pack and went up to take some photos and do push-ups.....

Last peak of the day but still had 13 miles or so before seting camp......my feet got a beating when I went fast down Signal Ridge......wanted to get to Sawyer Pond before it got dark......filled up water by one of the creeks before the junction to Carrigain Notch Trail. Shortly thereafter I took the abandoned logging road to the right to get over to the road towards Sawyer Pond Trail. A bull mosse showed up (sorry for blurry photo:

Also saw bear poop and bear tracks in some muddy areas. The moose moved out of the way eventually and I continued....feet were getting soar so the logging road seemed to last a long time although just a couple of miles long.....did the short section of gravel road and took the 1.5 mile trail into Sawyer Pond.

The sun was setting finally and it was getting darker......was able to move a couple of miles beyond Sawyer Pond before I had to put the headlamp on though.....feet were getting worse......Saco River was wide and deep so I just went over with shoes on.......cooled the feet off a bit......MEB was gonna try to get her car and meet me here but the parking lot was empty.......did the 1/2 mile on Kanc to Oliverian TH.......and a headlamp was visible...it was MEB! It was great to see her!

We went together onto the Oliverian Trail to find a campsite for the night.......the first one was already taken.......so we trucked on and shortly before the Passaconnaway cut-off intersection there was a spot away from the trail. Divine feeling to finally set camp.........30 miles or so logged today........had to cool off the feet in the creek a couple of times to reduce swelling......food tasted so good......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[giggy]

hardcore - my feet are throbbing reading this.

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

Just incredible!

The hike would have been over for me long before this point! Incredible, super-human effort for both of you!

KDT

 

[Mats Roing]

Thanks MichaelJ for pointing out I referred to Ethan Pond at the end of day 6 although I meant Sawyer Pond......not easy after turning 20 ;-)

Corrected it.......

The tongue healed surprisingly fast....just tough eating salty stuff a day or two after slicing it.....