Day 8: Swimming at the Applegate, and camping in style

[Erin]:

I woke up on a futon, ate a bagel and drank good coffee. Emily and I went to urgent care where she was first in line. She came out with prescriptions for steroids and antibiotics and we went to the drug store for a second time, where I bought even more gauze and ibuprofen. We also went to a great little backpacking store in downtown Ashland and replaced our compass and Dr. Bronner's, and Emily got a new pair of shorts. Since Day 1, her old, trusty pair of shorts she'd brought had a tear in the bum. Every day, the tear got larger, and though she'd tried to hold the shorts together with a safety pin, she soon was just walking around with her underwear out.

The old shorts: turns out they don't last forever. Also: Emily's leg is still visibly swollen.

We headed out, down the Applegate Valley. We decided to link back up with the Bigfoot Trail by hiking in from the east side of the Red Buttes. We were sad to miss a day of the hike, but decided that Emily's mobility was probably more important in the long run.

Lisa and Derek, an awesome pair.

Derek and Lisa took us to the Applegate, where we swam and sunbathed like seals on a rock. Just upriver there was a group of about 10 folks, all ages, drinking Coors Light and making poor choices. Like: at one point, two guys went to go get more beer from their car. They crossed the river and once on the opposite bank, they realized that they had forgotten the keys. So one of the guys called out to his friend, who was on a bank below him and on the opposite side of the river, and his friend threw his keys across the river. For more Coors Light. Totally worth it.

Our campsite was right along the river and we listened to the thunder in the distance as we fell asleep.

Total miles: 0