It was really windy and rainy overnight again.  Stayed in the hammock as long as I before getting up. I packed up in a light rain and made breakfast on the shelter.  They had actually gotten rained on a bit overnight when the wind shifted.

I hit the trail after 9am in a light rain and wind that got stronger as I climbed in elevation.

Had to tread carefully in some spots, like this large rock face that dropped off into the mountain side below.

I entered the Priest Wilderness and began my ascent to the top of Priest Mountain.

I actually made good time, getting to the Priest shelter around 12:30.

I talked to a section hiker at the shelter who was going Southbound. I mentioned that I may try to make it a 22 mile day and go all the way to the Devils Backbone Brewery.  I heard they let hikers camp out back.

He immediately dismissed the effort, saying with the wind and rain, there was no way you could trek down Priest Mountain and back up over an area known as the Three Ridges, with its boulder scrambles with what remained of the day.  Especially with the wind rain and flooding

Well that sealed the deal for me, never tell a Marine what he can’t do! I set off on a tear down the foggy mountain.  At some points had to be careful not to walk off into the abyss.

The cliffs probably made for great lookout points in fair weather

Parts of the trail had flooded, becoming more stream than trail.

I made it off the mountain in good time, so on track to meet or beat my goal of 8pm to the road crossing that would lead to the brewery.

I crossed a cool wooden suspension bridge over a muddy river before heading uphill again.

After entering the Three Ridge Wilderness, the real fun began.  It became very rocky, steep and flooded.

At one point, a stream was completely flooded out and I had to wade across a foot of cold rushing water

The trail continued to get rockier towards the top. You almost had to climb hand over foot in some areas

Once at the top, I was rewarded with spectacular views!

On the way down, a couple miles from my finish point, a couple hundred yard long stretch of trail was completely flooded and turned into a rushing little stream.  At least my feet were already wet!

I made it to Reids Gap at exactly 7pm and set about trying to hitch a ride to the brewery

There weren’t many cars out, but eventually a pickup truck came by and gave me a ride to the brewery

I changed into a dry shirt, hung my hammock in the woods out back and enjoyed dinner and a beer.