“Can’t wait,” Ash says drily, but she’s smiling.
“Great,” Caro says. “I’ll go in first. It’ll be chilly, you guys. Hope, do you mind bringing up the rear?”
“No problem.”
Caro laughs at the others’ reactions as they enter the water (Ash shrieks,Hope swears). The water is take-your-breath-away cold, and Caro shivers, feeling her body absorb the shock of it even through her wetsuit.
“We all good?” she calls back.
“So good,” Ash yells, and Caro grins, because she knows what Ash’s likely experiencing. Once you’re actually in the water, you feelgreat. You feelbeyondalive. Caro is trembling and shaky and new and strong, like a baby deer or some other animal that has only recently come into the world.
They hold their packs over their heads and make their way carefully through the pool, trying not to slip on the stones beneath or crash into any of the large boulders submerged in the water. In spots, the creek is so deep that it comes up to Caro’s armpits, but they don’t have to actuallyswim.
Once they’re all out of the water, they realize that they’ve nearly caught up with the group ahead of them. As they get closer, Caro can see that they’ve come to a steep drop, the first place that they’ll have to make a descent whileinthe canyon. The water cascades over a rocky outcropping. The college kids have a rope, but it’s not long enough for the rappel, and they’re stuck. She groans inwardly. Like her dad, she hates it when people come into wild places unprepared.
Hope glances at her watch and then at Caro. They need to keep moving if they’re going to stay on schedule.
“I’ll get you guys down first,” Caro says to her friends. “Then I’ll help them out and catch up.” She can’t leave them stranded. Plus, the rope the kids have should be long enough for the rest of the drops. This first one is the biggest.
“They don’t have helmets,” Ash says. Though the creek is shallower than it’s been in other places, it’s particularly slippery here. Slick, green-black algae clings to the sandstone and grows in tangled strands patterned like shallow waves.
“Most groups actually don’t,” Caro says. “It’s not required. Only suggested.” She pats Ash on her helmeted head. “I’m abundance-of-cautioning for this trip.”
“I appreciate that,” Ash says.
The group of kids look up as the three women come closer. There are five in total, two guys and three girls, and Caro can tell that at least some of them are thinking about jumping into the water instead of rappelling down. “Hey,” Caro says. “We’ve got a rope. Mind if I belay my friends down first, and then you guys can use it, too, if you’d like?”
One of the guys is walking along the edge. “I’m going to jump!” he calls out, confirming Caro’s hunch.
“Can we do that?” a girl with brown hair asks Caro.
“In theory, you can, but I wouldn’t recommend it,” Caro says. “Rappelling is the safer route. The depth of the pools varies drastically, and you don’t know how deep it is.” She swings her pack around to the front and begins readying her climbing rope. There’s a bolt in the rock that they can use, right where she remembered.Perfect.
“It’s spring, though, right?” the other guy asks. “So we should be good. Lots of water.”
“A few years ago, someone died jumping here.” Caro can tell that the guys are feeling stupid for not having brought a long enough rope, so she hopes they’ll swallow their pride and use hers. She’s trying to be extremely cool and nonchalant so that they won’t see her as a challenge to their manhood or their youth and they’ll accept her help. “Ash, you ready to clip in?”
“Yup.” As their eyes meet before Ash steps back down over the edge, Caro sees that Ash gets it, that she knows exactly what Caro’s doing. A few moments pass in silence as the others watch Ash go over. “I’m down!” she calls out, and Caro brings the rope back up so that Hope can clip in.
“That actually looks pretty fun,” the brown-haired girl says. She’s trying to convince the others, Caro can tell. The boys are edging closer along the rock.
“Oh, it is,” Hope says. Hope’s orange hat is pulled low and no one in the group gives her a second glance. Once Caro and Hope have checked that Hope’s clipped in properly, down she goes.
“She made it,” one of the guys reports, looking over the edge.
“I’m down!” Hope shouts.
“Head on out,” Caro calls. “I’ll catch up with you.”
“How willyouget down if you help all of us?” the brown-haired girl asks.
“I’ve done this enough that I can belay myself,” Caro says.
“Did someone really die here?” asks a redheaded girl with a glint in her eye. “Or are you making that up to freak us out?”
“I didn’t make it up,” Caro says.
“This exact spot?” the first guy asks.
