I’m also glad Caden isn’t here to see me treading carefully up this rocky path. It’s definitely getting steeper—the aforementioned steps Thorn warned us about—but they’re still dry for now.
As soon as we round the bend, L’Heureux Falls comes into full view: the waterfall isn’t quiteJurassic Parklevels of majestic, but that’s mostly because it’s crashing over a solid rock wall and not the green jungles of Kauai. Still, it’s gorgeous.
It’s also very, very wet.
A fine spray of mist fills the air and covers every surface, rocky steps included. It only gets worse the closer we get to the scenic bridge overlook.
I slow to a snail’s pace, terrified I’m going to slip right past the guardrails and into the river below, a cruel and early end to this wilderness adventure. What on earth was Ithinking? Why didn’t I realize hiking boots were on the list for more than just reasons of comfort—but for traction, too? I’m so green at this I don’t even know what I don’t know, despite all my research.
I take a few tentative steps, then a few more.
It’s slow progress, and all is good—
Until the dark part of the next rock turns out to be moss, slick and slippery, and the toe of my right sneaker glides right out from under me.
My entire life flashes before my eyes.
I’m not thriving right now, not one bit. I’m flailing, trying to steady myself before I twist my ankle or fall to my death—
But just as I’m about to go flying into the rocky, raging river, a strong arm wraps around my waist, pulling me back from the brink.
My heart pounds, still very much inI’m going to diemode, but the rest of me is steady. The rest of me is safe.
“It’s okay,” I hear Thorn say, his calm, deep voice cutting through the crash of the waterfall. “You’re okay.”
His hand is at my hip, fingertips digging deep to hold me in place. He doesn’t move a muscle, probably because I’m still givingwild animal in fight-or-flightvibes…or maybe because he’s afraid I’ll start to slip again the instant he lets go.
I blink, stunned and a bit shaky.
“You’re okay, Sadie,” he repeats. “I’ve got you.”
“Thank you for helping me…again.” I’m irritated that he had to, but grateful.
“It’s what I’m here for.”
He glances down at my shoes but, mercifully, doesn’t give me a hard time about them.
Finally, he moves his hand off my hip. It’s a thousand degrees cooler already. He keeps a close, vigilant distance behind me, ready to step in again if needed.
We slowly make our way up to the L’Heureux Falls Crossing bridge. I had hoped to do an epic vlog recording here, but all I can manage is a quick panoramic sweep of the scenery before my phone case is slickwith mist. The stone steps are just as treacherous on the opposite side for our descent; I put one foot in front of the other until—finally—we’re back on dry ground.
Thorn stays behind me the whole way, the two of us at the back of the pack even once we’re caught up with the rest of the group and en route to whatever else might try to kill me out here.
He doesn’t say a word.
7THORN
It’s a relief when we’re off those damn steps.
That’s the closest I’ve ever come to someone actually having an incident there, and it’s more than a little terrifying to think about what could have happened if I hadn’t been able to save her. Sadie’s going to be the reason for a number of edits to the tour company’s packing guidelines, but HIKING BOOTS MANDATORY will surely be the most significant.
This path is more uneven than the one we left behind in Valerie Forest, covered in little white rocks that don’t exactly provide stability underfoot, but I’ll take it. There’s little chance Sadie—or anyone else, for that matter—will have another life-threatening incident on what’s left of today’s hike. Not due to footwear, anyway.
“It’s really pretty out here,” Sadie says quietly, pulling me out of my head after we’ve been walking for a while in silence. She’s found her way to my side; the rest of the group is a good bit ahead of us, with Matteo leading the way.
“It is,” I agree. From this vantage point, you can see Helen Theresa Peak and the Two Sisters off to the distant south, and a sprawling landscape of rocks and treetops filling everything in between.
A huge reason I do what I do is to get people to pay attention to this sort of beauty: what the world has to offer that isn’t just shown on a screen, in air conditioning, with all the comforts a person might crave at their fingertips—distractions, everywhere.
