The little Yosemite Valley was a flat part of the hike, but it still wasn’t easy. The thick sand made it feel like trying to hike at the beach, and my feet got tired of churning their way through the trail.
“Anyone low on water?” Matt took a tube-shaped thing out of his backpack.
“Yeah, me,” I said, and I ran over to the side of the rushing river next to our trail. I knelt down to get a handful of water to splash on my face and take a drink.
“Stop!” Matt yelled.
“What? I was just getting some water.”
“You can’t drink that water until you run it through the purifier.” He pointed to the tube thing.
“But it looks clean.”
“You never know up here. Sometimes there are bacteria in the water that can make you really sick. Better not take a chance.”
Fawn laughed. “Life’s not safe — don’t you know that?” She pointed to her leg.
I was starting to figure that out, and I didn’t like it at all.
While Matt filled up our water containers, Nate sat down and asked me all kinds of personal questions — like what I like to do in my spare time, how well I do at school, who my friends are, and how I like working for Swiftriver. My dad was sitting right next to me, so I felt okay giving him the answers. I remembered back to that reporter from Arizona where I guess I said too much. I never told my parents about that.
“Okay, this is the last official bathroom for a long time, so don’t ignore it.” Matt pointed to a building in the Little Yosemite Campground.
I didn’t have to go. “What do I do if I have to go in an hour?”
“Get behind a tree and dig a hole,” Dad said.
Only a half-hour later, I had to go — really bad. Problem was, there weren’t any really wide bushes or trees near the trail. Even though we were far into the hike, there were still a lot of people around, and I didn’t want them watching me.
“Where should I go?” I asked Fawn. I thought I’d get some advice from her — not only about where to go, but how.
Fawn looked around. She pointed to a cluster of bushes that seemed like a long way away. “Go in there — see that tree in the middle of the bushes? Dig a hole at the base of it, squat over it, and lean your back against the tree for support.”
“That way no bears can sneak up on you,” Flip said. I didn’t realize he had snuck up behind me.
“Where’s the pepper spray when you need it?” Fawn said. She took off Flip’s ball cap and slapped him with it.
“I don’t know. What if there is a bear in there?” I asked.
Fawn slapped Flip again. “You see what you did? She’s scared now.”
My bladder couldn’t take it any longer, so it didn’t matter whether I was scared or not. I had to go.
“I’ll get everyone to stop and wait for a few minutes.” Flip ran up to the front of the pack where Matt and Nate and my Dad were.
I ran off to the bush cluster and then looked around to see if I could see people. Yep. I still could. So I moved over to another cluster that looked a little more private. As I got my hole ready, I heard some people laughing, so I ditched that place and went farther into the forest. Just when I thought I was going to have an accident, I finally found a private spot, right behind a really wide rock. I tried to go really fast, since I was scared to think of what would happen if a fox or a squirrel or a bird attacked me while I was busy. The whole situation made me appreciate the safe little bathroom I have at home. I decided I wouldn’t even complain about having to clean it anymore.
After I filled up my hole with dirt, I got out my phone — just in case I had service. I thought it would be fun to text TJ and tell her that I had just peed in the woods and find out how things were going back at home. It felt like I’d been gone forever.
Rats, no service.
I tucked my phone back in my backpack and started back to the trail.
At least I tried to.
I looked back at where my little rock bathroom was, but then I got a little confused about which direction I came from to get there. Somehow, that second bush cluster had moved.
Wasn’t it . . . that way? I turned around and looked for a path, but there wasn’t one. Great. That’s what I get for hurrying. Now I wished I had paid more attention to where I was going.
“Fawn?” I said, raising my voice a little. I didn’t want all the people on the trail to think I was lost.
Where were those people now?
I couldn’t hear anyone. Or see anyone. And all of a sudden, nothing looked familiar.
A cracking sound came from behind some trees. I walked faster and tripped over a fallen tree branch and fell on the ground. Something skittered by right next to my head so I jumped back up and ran. I’m not sure which direction I ran in, though.
“Dad?” I raised my voice a little louder. Surely I would come out on the trail soon.
Get out your compass, Riley.
I obeyed the little voice inside and took out the compass Mom had packed.
I watched as the little pointy thing wound around to show north.
Yep, that’s north.
But I had no idea how that was going to help me, since I didn’t know which way I had come from.
I looked up hoping to see Half Dome. At least I could head in the direction of that.
But all I saw was trees and rocks.
Yikes.
My heart started to pound.
“Dad!” This time I yelled.
Check your phone again.
No service.
I stood there, looked up, and started crying.