Date: 2005-05-21
To: About 2 south of Hawk Mtn.
Miles today: 8.1

Hello all. Dungan here (or should I say "Long Road"). Dream Catcher (as she insists on now being referred to) is on the trail, and asked if I could enter today's journal entry. Being the WONDERFUL friend that I am of course I agreed.Let's see, I guess I had better go back to yesterday afternoon. I had to go to work while DeAnn (since you had not set foot on the AT at this point I can use your civilian name) stayed at my apartment and packed and repacked her, well, her pack. I got home about 3 pm (sorry to have worried you D) and we were off for Dalton, GA. - DeAnn, Dungan and Meggie (my dog). It only took a couple hours to get to Dalton. We had a nice steak dinner, then back to the hotel for a good night's sleep. DeAnn once again repacked her backpack insisting it was too heavy. The scare we had that night was that DeAnn thought her water bladder (the thingy that holds her drinking water while she hikes) was leaking. Thank God it wasn't.On to this morning, May 21st. DeAnn and I slept in kind of late. We didn't leave the hotel until about 9 am (EST). Of course DeAnn had already started the day off by sitting on my glasses, hopelessly bending them out of shape. The first song of the morning was, "Get this Party Started" by Pink. I wanted to get DeAnn pumped up for her hike. We stopped and had breakfast, then off to find Springer Mountain and the beginning to the Appalachian Trail (AT). One word of advice...even if she gets a little pissy about it, always make sure you read the directions BEFORE you set off and let DeAnn (or Dream Catcher) navigate. We got lost. Well, not really lost, just misplaced. We were in the right area, just on the other side of Springer Mtn. - or just about the other side - from where we needed to be. After driving around we made it to Amicalola State Park. This is one way you can begin the AT. Of course the additional 9 mile hike, up hill I might add, does not officially begin the AT. We opted for going back, finding Springer mtn. and starting only .9 miles from the summit. Along the way I was able to introduce DeAnn to some new music/singers/groups including Sugarland and Christine Kane. I will be posting some of the lyrics to songs DeAnn really liked and felt appropriate for her journey ahead. Once we got there, DeAnn (you still had not officially touched the trail) was out of the car in a flash. Now she can officially be referred to as "Dream Catcher." We were later than Dream Catcher had hoped and some of her group went on ahead. We did meet up with Tri-Geek Bill, and Dream Catcher said she would meet up with him and the others at the shelter this evening.Meggie and I stayed behind while Dream Catcher went up to the summit (Please check out her photos), and was back down (just about 2 miles now under her belt) after about 1.5 hours. Dream Catcher stopped briefly to say good-bye to Meggie and me, and hand me a could items for the Bounce Box (which I kept referring to as the Bump Box just to tick her off). D - I'll be sending it off tomorrow. I'll send it to you as fast as I can.Well sport's fans, our little "Dream Catcher" is off on her adventure. I know she has wanted to take this journey for a long time. I've known her for about 12 years, and she has always talked about hiking the AT. I just want to wish her a safe journey. She said to make sure I thank all of you out there who are praying for her while she embarks on this adventure. She also wanted to say thank you for all the love and support of her family and friends. Dungan (now dubbed "Long Road" for my tendancy to dilly-dally (no comments Mom or Dad)) out from Nashville, TN via Springer Mtn., GA. Goodnight Gracie!!