(The Priest Shelter (mile 829.7) - VA Route 56 (mile 834.4) *overnight at Katie's house*)

I woke up this morning at 6:15am. After breakfast in the shelter, Puddin, Katie, and I started hiking at about 7:30am. We stopped briefly at a set of rocky cliffs near the priests summit. It was very windy and the views were excellent. Interestingly, there was a guy repelling off the cliff. To where exactly, I’ll never know. We had hoped to catch Delta at the nearby tentsite, but he was nowhere to be found.

In this photo, you can see the repel line and the dark shape of a man obscured by trees

We then began the extended climb down the northeast face of The Priest, which involved a 3,000 foot elevation loss over about 4.5 miles. It would be a murderous climb for anyone hiking SOBO. After about 2 miles, we were treated to a break in the trees along a rocky clearing which offered terrific views into the valley below. After another 1.4 miles, we stopped at Cripple Creek for a few minutes because it was pretty and we had little reason to rush.

Just as we were within site of the parking lot, I spotted my first toad of the AT! The little amphibious friend was hopping right along the trail and we stopped for pics and cuddles. The toad seemed unenthused to be receiving so much attention and expressed its enthusiasm by peeing on Katie. I was shocked that I had made it 62 days without seeing a toad.

Our feet touched the parking lot at 9:55am. Katie's parents, who were supposed to meet us at 10am, had not arrived yet, so we readied ourselves for a short wait. As the minutes dragged on, Katie began to get worried. There was no cell service in the deep gap, so we speculated that they could be lost. Nevertheless, Katie’s parents ended up arriving at just about 11am. They explained that they had indeed been lost, and had to stop at a gas station and then a little country store for directions. Any remnants of concern were washed away when Katie’s dad presented a big bag of fresh bagels and various cream cheeses from their favorite local bagel shop. Delicious🤤

Our first stop was the strawberry patch at Chile’s Peach Orchard and Farm Market. We had big expectations for Chile’s. One of Katie’s childhood friends had apparently been discovered by a professional modeling scout at the strawberry patch. Naturally, we all expected to be discovered for professional modeling gigs😂 Perhaps more realistically, we expected to eat an absurd volume of strawberries. We joked about being asked to leave after our hiker appetites decimated the strawberry fields.

Soon enough our expectations had become reality - at least the eating strawberries part. We each picked and ate strawberries until our stomachs reached capacity. It turned out that not even our combined hiker metabolisms could make a dent in Chile’s strawberry fields. We each filled baskets and then made our way to the farm shop, where Katie insisted we try the apple cider donuts. I had never had one before. Absolutely delicious!

After Chile’s, we made a second stop at Walmart for our second rounds of the COVID vaccine. We arrived a little early and killed time browsing for snacks and other essentials. After we all got poked, we made one last stop at the Whole Foods “in a hole” (as Katie likes to call it) before heading to Katie’s house.

Katie's mom trains horses and their house doubles as a horse farm. After a brief tour, I was shown the guest house, which I would have completely to myself. After washing up, I made my way back to the house where we all pitched in on the creation of a very tasty and veggie-rich dinner. I think AC would be pleased. I certainly was😁