Day 97: got up and was hiking by 4:45am. Just about a mile in I saw the French couple in their tents, then heard someone say hi but I couldn’t see anything so I just said hi and kept walking. I later learned it was Scotty. I also slept so good last night which was special since I was camping alone. But the stars have really started to help me sleep. I just stare up at them and doze right off. Hat Creek Rim, you may know it from the movie Wild when she has to lick moisture off of her tent because she had no water. Dry, and flat. Which usually equals super boring. But mornings are my favorite. It’s never boring then. Seeing the sun come up and listening to all the birds and wildlife awaken. It’s so meditative and my favorite part of every day. Passed a communication tower then more power lines, but mainly just walking along a bunch of low dry bush. About 11 miles in I went through a gate and found myself staring at cows. In the first pond I knew I wouldn’t retrieve water. A cow stared at me and legit just stared while pooping right into the water. So freakin gross. I kept walking a went to one a little off trail that I had read was cleaner. I dropped my pack and got out my Sawyer, time for it to work. The water was warm and had weird gooey stuff floating on top. I filled up a bottle, still having a liter and headed on. Luckily, I ended up not having to drink any of this water anyways! The rest of the day seemed to be the same. Pass by power lines and go through wire fences. Finally the actually HCR was over and I was back under the shade of trees. I stopped for a very brief moment to eat a hummus wrap for lunch with some chips, my staple. And made my way through the Powerhouse, such a weird part of trail and I actually got semi-confused with where to go. Then found a brief period of walking along with a small lake where people were out on canoes and just floating around on the water. The shade felt amazing. There were flowers and butterflies ❤️❤️❤️. I’m almost to Burney Guest Ranch! I’m pushing hard to get there and see Freckles and Tim! Finally I hit the power lines where I turned off trail to head to the ranch. 25 miles done by 1pm! And right when I walked up I saw Tim and then Freckles came running out to give me a hug! Yay!!!!!! REUNITED! I was immediately greeted by Linda, the sweet sweet owner, with some homemade ice cream. I was able to shower and do laundry and even go for a swim. It is heaven here. Scotty got there shortly after me looking exhausted and commenting on how fast I was. Since I didn’t realize it was him this morning I just thought he was ahead of my still so I had no idea I’d see him! And we got to end with all you can eat spaghetti. So good! This was one of my favorite stops on trail. No expectations and it ended up being spectacular. We hung out then camped on their lawn for the evening. Ready to go for more miles tomorrow.