This is my first trip report! Last weekend 4 brave DCULers, Albina, James, Ben, and myself, once again faced off against the infamous Priest in a repeat of the now-famous trip David O lead last year. Sadly this time there were no fun games, but the world hasn’t ended yet so hopefully we did enough.
After leaving a car at Crabtree Falls, we arrived to the Priest wilderness parking around dusk and were able to secure some tent sites by the river, although we did maybe crash a couple guys’ camping trip. But, what can you do on a beautiful holiday weekend? I had a restful sleep being an earplug user but this campsite was a bit disruptive to the non-pluggers with the proximity to the road, other campers, and even some coyotes.
In the morning, we set off at 7 to complete the three ridges loop first. Ben quickly took off and was not seen again the rest of the day. James, Albina and I chatted for a while. We all enjoyed the lovely weather and the nice streams along the way. After completing the group, we regrouped at the river before taking on the priest. I had done this climb before, but wow, after doing the three ridges loop it really takes on a new dimension. The caltopo line we used was also a little rough and may have missed some switchbacks, those who recorded with a watch ended up with around 19.5 miles for Saturday. Can’t blame me because I just plagiarized somebody else’s caltopo. But anyway, we all made it up to the shelter in the end. In my exhaustion, I forgot to read the fun shelter log with trail confessions so I guess I’ll have to go back sometime. The shelter has a very nice new privy!
In the morning, Ben and I went out to Spy Rock and we did get the amazing 360 view. The campsite below it also looks really nice but it is dry. In the spirit of spycraft, Ben asked for a riddle on spy rock to ensure that the world is saved. If anyone would like to take a crack, the riddle is: “A man is lying dead on the floor, surrounded by 53 bicycles. What happened to him?” Please do not google the answer in case I’m on a long hike or car ride with you because this is one of the only riddles I know and it provides a solid 30 minutes of entertainment.
We caught up with James and Albina at Crabtree Falls, and continued down appreciating the nice waterfall views. Afterwards we stopped at Devil’s Backbone Basecamp Brewpub, which is really a trip, it’s a brewery/distillery/concert venue/company headquarters with a lot of indoor and outdoor seating. They are having Oktoberfest there this month which includes a lumberjack competition (??) so somebody should check that out and report back.
Overall, it was a hard but fun weekend with a great crew!
DC UL Backpacking 
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