The next morning started really early. We had to wake up at four o’clock to get ready and drive to the trailhead at Happy Isles in Yosemite National Park. I texted TJ.
Git up! I’m up!
She didn’t text back.
I was actually more nervous than tired. School had let out for the summer just a week before, so I’d been getting lots of sleep on purpose. Fawn had scared me into being rested and ready for this hike.
At the trailhead we met up with our guide, Matt Rainier. He was friendly and funny as he described some of what we were going to experience:
“Pain, hunger, thirst. But mostly, awe.”
We also met Nate Johnson, the reporter from Outdoor Teen Magazine. “We’re a new publication — started with the goal of inspiring young people to get outside and discover natural beauty instead of always watching it on TV. This story will be in our first issue, scheduled to come out in July.”
I guess the idea was for them to interview me throughout the hike so kids my age would know what to expect and want to do it too. Flip, of course, was going to take the pictures. In exchange for the story, the magazine offered to give Swiftriver free advertising in their magazine. Sounded good to me — except the hiking part.
Fawn looked happy and really sporty. She was wearing the Riley Mae Rock Shockers too. Mine had grey mountains on them with a red and pink background. Hers were the same, but the background was blue and green. The rest of her outfit was color coordinated with the shoes, and she had a grey ball cap on with her ponytail coming out the back. This was definitely “Easter Fawn.”
“Did you eat breakfast?” She asked. “I hope not donuts, ’cause junk’s not going to get you up this mountain.”
“I know that. I ate cereal and turkey sausage, and I drank some orange juice.”
“You wanna know what I ate?” Flip asked.
“No. I’m not in the mood to have my stomach turned right now,” Fawn said.
“Okay, troops, it’s time. Let’s fasten up your packs and get going.” Matt double-checked to make sure everyone had a properly balanced pack, and then he led the way up the first part of the hike — the trail to the Vernal Falls bridge.
After five minutes, I wanted to stop. The trail was steep, and I was huffing and puffing so much that my head was pounding. My stomach got all crampy too — and that made me nervous since Matt told us there were only three real bathrooms on the trail. If we had to go anywhere else, we’d have to find a bush.
“Can we stop a minute?” Dad’s comment from the back of the group was a relief to me.
“Sure,” Matt said. “Everything okay?”
“My head is throbbing.” Dad took off his hat and sat down on a rock.
“That’s normal. It’s a pretty steep road to start out on. Your body just needs to get used to it.” Matt went over to Dad and offered him a little packet of something.
“Try some goo. It’ll give you a jumpstart.”
Dad squeezed whatever the “goo” was in his mouth, and then rinsed it down with his water. “Okay, I’m ready.”
My head felt better. I checked my watch. We’d been at this for ten minutes. Nate was looking at me and taking notes.
“Whatcha writing over there?” I asked.
“I’m writing that you look fresh and ready to go, but you have to wait for the lagging grown-ups.”
“Oh.” If he only knew how I really felt. “It’s the shoes.” I pointed to my Rock Shockers.
“Yeah, that’s what you get paid to say.”