Dad, how much money do I make doing this?” I figured this was a long hike, so I had time to ask a few questions.
Dad looked around. Nate had moved up to the front so he could interview Matt, and Flip and Fawn were behind us chatting and taking pictures.
Dad lowered his voice. “That’s not really something we should be discussing here, honey.”
“Well, is it enough to get rich?”
“Do you want to be rich?”
I thought about Rusty with no food in her house. Then I thought about TJ with the two hundred dollar bills in her pocket from her grandma. I remembered Flip’s two hundred sponsored kids. It didn’t make sense to me that some people have so much and others don’t have anything.
“Yeah, I’d like to be rich. There’s a lot I could do with a bunch of money.”
“Well, sorry to tell you, but you’re not going to get rich.”
“Oh well.”
“But you will earn enough to pay for four years of college.”
“That’s good, right?
Dad smiled. “Yep. Very good.”
“I’m glad I’m doing it, then.”
Just as I said that, we arrived at the Vernal Falls bridge.
Matt gathered us all together, and Flip took a picture. He had to protect his camera from all the mist that was blasting off the rocks from the huge waterfall.
“Hurry up,” I yelled. “I’m getting soaked!” After Flip clicked another picture of the group, I ran off the bridge to a dry spot next to a tree.
“Anyone have a towel?” I asked.
Matt laughed. “No need to dry off. We haven’t even hit the real wet part yet.”
“What?” I looked up at the waterfall and wondered which direction we would go from here.
Matt must have read my mind, because he pointed up. “We’re climbing up the side of that, and when we’re done, we’ll be up at the top right edge — where you see the water coming over.”
I panicked and looked for a place to escape. And there it was — a little brown building.
“First bathroom stop, folks,” Matt said.
I would have liked to stay in the bathroom, but it stunk too bad, so I got out quickly.
“So, Riley, how do you like the hike so far?” Nate had his little notepad out.
“It’s great. So pretty. Can’t wait to climb up to the top of the waterfall. I’m sure my Rock Shockers will help me run right up there.”
“Running won’t work for this leg of the journey,” Matt said. “We’re going to be on some granite stairs, and they get kind of steep. The water will be coming hard right in your face so you really need to be careful with each step. Don’t take your eyes off your feet.”
Great. All of a sudden I wasn’t glad I was doing this.
We all put on our rain jackets and headed up the side of the waterfall. Matt stayed behind the group this time so he could keep an eye on all of us.
“If you get tired, just stop for a few seconds and catch your breath. Move to the right, against the rocks so that other groups can pass you on the left.” I was amazed that there were so many people on the trail — and so many without good shoes. Some were even wearing flip-flops!
“Now that’s dumb,” Flip said as he pointed to a group of flip-floppers.
“And that’s saying something coming from you,” Fawn added.
“Lots of people attempt this hike without proper preparation,” Matt said. “They don’t realize how long and treacherous it is. There are numerous injuries each year.”
“Do people ever die?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah. People have died on this hike.”
I stopped walking. “What? I’m not going, then.”
Fawn pushed me from behind. “Keep going, girl. You’ll be fine. The ones who die are the ones who do risky things — which won’t be you.”
“What kind of risky things?” I asked.
“You’ll see some at the top of the waterfall,” Matt said.
I started to wonder if I would make it to the top of the waterfall. Matt wasn’t kidding when he said we would be going on some steep stairs. Some were so steep my legs barely reached to the next one. The tops of my legs burned so bad that I wanted to stop, but I couldn’t because the water was slamming into my face. My left ear was so packed with water that I couldn’t hear out of it.
Finally, there was a resting place. A little tunnel in the rock provided some shelter from the water. Unfortunately, quite a few other people wanted to rest there too.
The flip-flop group was there, but now they were on their way down.
“Good choice,” Matt said. Then he warned them to be careful not to slip on the way down. But he said it this way: “Your choice of footwear is not going to afford you any traction.”
We all stayed in the tunnel for a minute or two, then started back onto the trail. About ten seconds later, we heard a scream.