Day 125: Dash and I had 10 miles to get to Elk Lake. There we plan to get a ride into Bend and spend a day or two, hoping the fire closure will open. I think it might slightly be bull shit and they’re just closing off parts of the trail due to the high amount of people coming out for the eclipse. So I’m hoping it will open. The 10 miles went by pretty fast. I waited at the top of the hill for Dash that looked at Elk Lake. Jamming to some Nahko bear when we came we booked it down. Ready to be to town and get some food. We arrived at 10:15 and legit the funniest thing ever happened. As we got near the camp we saw some kids riding on bikes and right when we got next to them one of them looked at us and said, “are you Dash and Express?” We gave each other a funny look and replied yes while giggling. All they said after was “follow us.” Dash and I were cracking up as we followed these random kids through the woods. We were like this is some children of the corn shit right here. But they led us to Tim and Freckles and their trail angels, Karen and Carrie. After saying hi we went to the restaurant to eat and hang out with some other hikers. We ended up being able to catch a ride from L-Trains friend to Bend and she dropped us off at Auntie Sunshine’s House, a trail angel in Bend. Squarepants, Tarzan, Birdie, and Coma were already there. This legit ended up being my favorite stay on the trail. I was surrounded by an abundant amount of happiness and love the entire time. That night we had a big bbq filled with so much delicious food, even veggie burgers for me!!! We drank, sang to oldies, danced, and had a good time. And listening to all of us sing horribly to songs like Bohemian Rhapsody was simply amazing. I had a beautiful conversation with Coma. About life and spirituality. Immediately it was just deep and real. We talked about his life, almost failed marriage, his change in views about love and life is what brought him to the trail. We talked about me, my non-stop brain, and the power within. Conversations like this don’t just normally happen with someone you just met, so it was truly special. We ended the night with a large snuggle puddle in the back yard. 8 dirty dirty hikers laying side by side in just our sleeping bags curled up ready to sleep under the familiar stars. And what I didn’t know is that the rest of my time here, would just get even better.