day 38 - 04/17

after a free buffet breakfast and my totally amazing epsom salt bath last night, i said goodbye to two awesome thru hikers, "meats" and "butters," and hit the trail at 07:30. i decided that i would get to waynesboro, which is at mile 854.0, in 5 days. so 134.2mi in 5 days. it is very doable since it is only an average of 27/day, but the 5 days in a row may be tiring. nothing really exciting in terms of scenery today. the awesome part is that i crossed the 1/3 mark at mile 728. so i have finished 1/3 of the trail in 38 days. i also really pushed myself today. at one point i was going so fast i did the 13.8mi from wilson creek shelter, where i ate 2nd lunch, to cove mt shelter in only 3hr 40min. that's almost 3.8mph! i still can't believe i did it, especially since i am wearing new shoes that i just bought yesterday. obviously they are a great fit. i also went far because i wanted to make it to bryant ridge shelter, where i am as i write this. it was designed and built by architects so it is very different from all the other shelters, having three floors laid out in a sort of modern design. very cool. there is also a creek the flows right by so the sound is very soothing as you sleep . . . which i think i will do now. 32mi from the hojos in daleville to bryant ridge shelter. 751.8 total.