Thank you Georgia!

Just a few people I want to acknowledge and thank.

SHOE: I first met you on my first trip to GA to hike the AT with the Dames and every time I came back to GA, you were there to make sure I made it thru a Georgia section safely and not alone. You have been there for every inch of my GA section but the last 25 miles b/c of an injury. Thank you for your time, expertise, planning, countless backpack training trips in the Smokies, funny stories, serious chats, and most importantly your friendship. I have learned so much from you my friend. You have made me a better backpacker and hiker and I look forward to future hikes with you. I truly think you're my hiking soul mate, it's so easy to get into a groove on the trail with you, we know what we need to do, sometimes without even saying a word, and our pace is so similar, it's scary. We do make a great team. NC here we come!

PYRO: When I met you, you were just starting out in backpacking. Well my friend. Since you've backpacked 43.6 miles (is what we calculated) with me on the AT in GA you know what that makes you? Besides fire maker extraordinaire, it makes you a full fledge backpacker. Thank you for all the funny stories, laughs, and fires that kept me warm during our trips. I look forward to hiking with you again!

MUDDBUTT: I am so glad I found the little blurb about trail dames on the Whiteblaze website on that fateful day in October 2007. Since that day, my outdoor life has changed for the better. You have started something wonderful, that really brings the outdoors to those women who didn't think it could be possible and you've created an opportunity for women to build confidence in themselves and their abilities that can never be replaced. All the while having fun and enjoying camaraderie. Thank you for Trail Dames. I am a better person, hiker, backpacker because of it.

TRAIL DAMES: To all the wonderful ladies I have met. I've had the honor to hike/backpack with some of you and I can honestly say, I have never met a Trail Dame I didn't like. You guys are awesome. Keep the outdoors fun and beautiful!

BOO: For letting me hike/backpack b/c I wanted to. For understanding that my soul needed to. For supporting my crazy dream of section hiking the AT no matter how long it takes me. I know at times it worried you, (hence the SPOT) and I will never forget that look on your face when you dropped me off for my first solo 14 mile hike from Allen Gap into Hot Springs. I know you must of thought you were the worst husband in the world to drop me off in the pouring rain on the side of the road and hope I make it without getting eaten by a bear or worse. But on the contrary, you were the the best husband for dropping me off on the side of the road in the pouring rain. B/C I learned so much about myself on that trip. Thank you for the countless weekends I left you alone to fend for yourself while I went off gallivanting in the woods. For the vacation weeks I took without you to hike a big section of the AT (SNP and GA). How can I ever repay you for that time? I love you.