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Restless Dreams LbNA #8678 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:May 30, 2004
Location:
City:Northwest
County:Mystery
State:Georgia
Boxes:2
Planted by:Red's Bunch
Found by: Eidolon (2)
Last found:Apr 2, 2006
Status:FFFr
Last edited:May 30, 2004
Silly Ol’ Bear was drinking her coffee and eating cereal one morning when Red shuffled into the kitchen, bleary-eyed and obviously still half-asleep. "You look awful," she told him. "Didn't you sleep?"

"Not well. I feel like I’ve hiked 20 miles. I kept having these exhausting dreams. We were placing letterboxes all over Northwest Georgia.” Red poured a cup of coffee and sat down across from her. “We went out to place just one box at each of these four places. But every time I pulled a letterbox out of my backpack, there was suddenly a second box there to place, each with a stamp featuring a different kind of bug. The blazes were all weird colors like fuchsia, and on each hike we saw a different animal.”

“Which hikes were we doing?” Silly Ol’ Bear asked absently.

Red scratched his head, thinking. “There were a couple of Chattahoochee National Forest trails: Chickamauga Creek and Keown Falls. The Gahuti Trail at Fort Mountain State Park was another. And Prater’s Mill, that working gristmill where that country fair is held. I can’t seem to keep them straight in my mind, though. The details are all jumbled up in my head.”

Silly Ol’ Bear turned the pages of her newspaper. “Hmm…” she murmured. Not noticing her inattention, Red briefly recounted some of the sporadic details of his dreams. Suddenly the rattling of the newspaper and the sound of her coffee cup being placed in the sink broke his reverie. “We should do that hike next,” she said as she grabbed her car keys and turned to leave for work.

“Huh? Which one?” asked Red.

“The one with the purple blazes, I guess. Wouldn’t it be neat if they really are purple, just like in your dream?” She leaned over and kissed him. “You’d better get ready for work. You’re going to be late.” And she crossed the kitchen to the front door and left the house.

Three seconds after she left, Red sat up straight. “Wait!” he exclaimed. “Which hike is the one that had the purple blazes?” But she was gone. Red sipped his coffee, then picked up a pencil to jot down some notes from his groggy memory onto a napkin:

*The Inchworm letterbox was planted on the trail where a toad was seen.
*The Cicada Spring Letterbox was not on a trail marked with bronze blazes.
*The hike where an owl was seen, which wasn’t Chickamauga Creek, wasn't blazed in purple.
*Prater’s Mill isn't the place where a toad was seen.
*The four trails are Fort Mountain, Keown Falls, the one where a deer was witnessed, and the trail with bronze blazes.
*Despite the See No Weevil Letterbox's location within the Chattahoochee National Forest, this wasn’t the hike in which a deer or a wild turkey was spotted.
*The Prater’s Mill hike isn't the one with the purple blazes.
*The “Tic” Tock Letterbox was on the teal-blazed trail.

Use the facts above to find the place, the Bug Letterbox, the animal observed, and the color of the blazes for each hike. The trail that had purple blazes in the dream was the one Red’s Bunch picked as their next hike, where they planted two actual “real life” letterboxes. Use your solution to choose the correct set of clues below to find the letterboxes. Only one of the following sets of clues is factual; the other three sets are from the dreams that had kept Red tossing and turning. Last found: 3/5/05.

Chickamauga Creek Trail clues: Walker County, 6.5 mile loop, walk counter clockwise. #1-Tennessee Valley Divide Letterbox: The Chickamauga Creek Trail crosses a utility easement at pole #125. From utility pole #126, sight 135* and take 35 paces, where it is hidden in a tree hollow. #2- _____ Letterbox: Where the trail heads south and upstream on an old road there is a fencepost with a ring fastened to it. From there, head 250* for 12 paces, and find the box in a large stump next to a magnolia tree.

Keown Falls clues: Walker County, 1.8 mile loop, walk counter clockwise. #1-Keown Overlook Letterbox: between the overlook and the part of the trail that heads behind the falls there is a double-trunked oak. Look in the cavity where the trunks split under some bark. #2- _____ Letterbox: Continue on to the smaller falls. After crossing a little creek at the base of these falls, there is a pumpkin-sized rock to the left of the trail. The box is behind the rock in a natural cubbyhole.

Fort Mountain clues: Murray County, 8.2 mile loop, walk clockwise. #1-Fire Tower Letterbox: About one hour north of the Big Rock Trail, the Gahuti passes a white bluff and then a small stream or two. Take 30 steps past a stream to the next blaze, sight 85* and take 15 steps, where it is under some slate leaning against a tree. #2- _____ Letterbox: There is a boulder field 45 minutes south of Cool Springs overlook. The biggest rock has two blazes. From there, head 246* for 25 paces, where it is entombed among the rocks.

Prater’s Mill clues: Whitfield County, .25 mile round trip. #1-Prater’s Mill Letterbox: Go around the mill to the north side. Next to the foundation of the mill below a second-floor window is a pile of building stones, and the box is nestled in among them. #2- _____ Letterbox: Follow Coahulla Creek upstream along a fishing path until you see a post in the water from a rotting pier. Take 35 paces past the post, then sight 35* and take 7 paces. The box is in a hollow under a bench-sized rock.

Happy Trails!