day 29 - 04/08

happy easter to all, if applicable. i stayed at the shelter last night with a father/son duo on a section hike. we had some great conversation and i lucked out cuz they unloaded some snickers bars and goodies as they were getting off trail today anyway. being around this father/son team really made me want to hike with my dad. he mentioned it before i left and i plan on banking enough miles that i can slow down and maybe do a 4-5 day section with him in vermont and then still make it to katadhin on my birthday, which is july 7th. it is a good thing the father/son duo gave me the goodies because i have always lost weight rapidly when i actually get off my lazy ass and exercise. anyone who has met my dad can see how easy it is for us to lose and keep weight off once we actually exercise. unfortunately, it is not physically possible to eat enough calories compared to calorie expenditure on the trail. i just can't carry the weight without destroying my knees. and yes, bad knees is unfortunately another family trait. (my dad and aunt can appreciate that comment) so this is why i pig out in towns - to get some much needed calories. speaking of which, after hiking 19.7mi in 5.5 hours i got to the jefferson national forest welcome center that has a phone dedicated to local calls so that thru-hikers may order food and have it delivered to the welcome center, which you can enjoy at the partnership shelter nearby. so i found an italian place open on easter and after delivery proceeded to eat an entire 16" greek pizza, drink a 2-liter bottle of pepsi, and finish off a ridonculously (credit for that word goes to you, jaz) ginormous 8" canoli topped with whip cream. ya, and i ate it all in under 20min! gross, i know, but totally epic. the crazy thing is that i had so much energy i put my boots back on and hiked another 7.1mi to chatfield shelter. this is where it gets crazy, cuz i was actually hungry again!!! so i ate the foot long sub i had also ordered and was intending to save for tomorrow. lol. oh well, c'est la vie . . . la vie. sorry, bad pun. as you can tell, at 21:06 at night i still have an abundance of energy after all my gorging. or maybe i'm just food drunk? the first picture below is of a nice little waterfall i passed. i thought y'all might enjoy. the second and third pics are of this bush i passed in an old cattle pasture. this plant had the best smell i have ever had the pleasure of breathing in. it was completely intoxicating. i had a moment like in the greek/roman(?) tale about the sirens where i could have just laid down and lost track of a lot of time just breathing in the utterly pleasing scent of these bushes. if anyone knows what they are, please let me know. it would be greatly appreciated. as a perfect end to my joyous and gluttonous easter day of hiking, a very nice 62yo thru-hiking couple let me borrow their iphone to call my parents. so schweet! i can't think of a better way to celebrate the story of christ's death transformation than by being in nature and enjoying all the beauty that earth has to offer. 26.8mi from hurricane shelter to chatfield shelter. 535.2 total.