Training Camp Day 1: Tokopah Waterfall Trail

The forest is quiet. Unlike in the movies with constant insect noises, bird chirping, and people conversing. When you hike a trail with strangers, there is a shared quietness and determination to complete the path. Once in a while, the birds will chirp, and the buzzing insects investigate you. The crunch of your footstep is the loudest sound heard in the forest.

Voices of strangers slipping farther behind or ahead of you make you realize how far you're from them. My mother, Jayden, and Kiden paced with me on the Tokopah Waterfall trail. Many families travel in groups. Some parents have a toddler in a backpack carrier on their back, with their children accompanying them. We stopped along the trail.

"Water break, please," said Jayden, sitting on a rock in the shade from a tall tree and unzipping her backpack. She took out a water bottle and poured it into a thermal bottle filled with ice cubes. Jayden closed the lid and shook the container. Then she opened the mouthpiece and drank.

I grabbed my water bottle from the side of my hiker bag and rested on a rock close to Jayden. My mother and Kiden stood beside us, scanning the surroundings, as we watched fast-paced hikers traveling on the trail.

"How much farther?" I ask.

"According to Google, the round trip is two hours and thirty minutes," said Mai-Neng.

"How long have we walked?" asked Jayden

"One hour," answered Kiden, looking at her stopwatch hung around her neck.

"Fifteen minutes left," I said with spirit and stood up.

"Wait, I want a longer break," Jayden protested. So we all waited until she was satisfied. We returned to the trail, gained elevation, and it merged with a cliffside trail. The pathway had changed from a forest dirt trail to a rocky white stone trail. The path was narrow, and on the other side was a drop without any safety in place. We waited here and there in small spaces, allowing returning hikers to descend.

In the distance, we saw a high cliff with a small rushing waterfall. It's so small!

"Is that the waterfall?" said Jayden, hovering a hand on her forehead.

"Maybe," said Kiden.

"We don't know until we get closer," said Mai-Neng, leading the group and using her walking stick as support.

"The waterfall might be bigger up close," I said. We tried to pick up our pace; however, the uneven pathway was full of rocks. It was high noon, and the sun shone in a blue sky without a single cloud in sight. My exposed skin tingled, and some areas were deep red. The tall pine and fir trees couldn't cast their shadows on the rocky trail as they were below us.

We arrived at the Tokopah Waterfall. There were giant slabs of rock closer to the waterfall, while the visitors were standing on a rocky platform and in the dirt. Big and small boulders aligned the outline of the cliff platform. Jayden was disappointed at the sight of a small waterfall. Hardly anything impressive. There was a sign posted: "Do not cross. Slipping hazard," but people ignored the warning. They scaled across flat boulders and joined strangers in the plunge pool bathing under the waterfall.

"Some people ruin the experience for everyone," said Kiden. We found a seat among the boulders. I brought my backpack on my lap and took out a granola bar. I ate happily. Jayden and Kiden took out a lunchbox and ate rice with dried beef. My mother ate fruits and a bag of dried chicken meat. Arriving hikers pulled out their cellphones to record and celebrate reaching the end.

Jayden finished her meal, wiped her hands with a wet towel, and placed the used towel in a plastic bag. She pulled out the cellphone and walked over to me. Jayden prepared the camera and said, "Say cheese~."

"Cheese!" I said, holding up a peace sign.

*Snap* Jayden previewed the picture. Kiden came from behind and said, "Hold on, you forgot about us."

"No, I didn't," said Jayden with a smile.

"Take one with all of us in the picture," said Kiden

"Okay, I will take a picture of you, Mai-Neng, and Mainhia," replied Jayden. Mai-Neng looked around and said, "Why don't we ask someone to take a picture of us?"

"Okay-okay," said Jayden.

She approached a stranger with a child and asked, "Can you help us take a picture?"

"Gladly," replied the female stranger and left her son resting on the rock. She positioned the cellphone in a horizontal view and snapped a picture.

"A second picture?" she asked.

"Yes, please!" shouted Jayden. Everyone posed. The stranger turned the cellphone to a vertical position and snapped a picture. Afterward, the stranger returned the cellphone to Jayden. Kiden, Mai-Neng, and I gathered around Jayden to see the pictures.

"Alright, everyone, I will send out the picture," said Jayden. "Don't crowd me."

"Right," I said and stepped away. I returned to my backpack and searched for my cellphone. I previewed the group picture. We stood in one row, arms and hands behind each other's backs with beautiful smiles. In the second picture, Jayden and I crouched, and our mothers stood behind us. Satisfied, I turned off my cellphone to conserve the battery.

"Wow, we can access the internet here," said Jayden

"I'm surprised we have service," commented Mainhia

Jayden used Google search and found images of a waterfall. She showed them to the group and said, "Doesn't even look like the advertised picture on the park page."

Kiden giggled and replied, "That's because the advertised image is taken in the spring and early summer. I would say Tokopah waterfall is impressive, not in appearance but in how it supplies the lower stream constantly."

Jayden folded her arms and said, "I'm ready to go back." We reapplied sunblock, zipped our bags, and descended the rocky pathway. We returned to the trail in the high-country coniferous forest. The tall fir and pine trees provide shade on the trail, and the occasional breeze feels good on the skin. Our trail is alongside the flowing Kaweah River. We look up to the sound of a helicopter flying above us.

"Someone is being rescued," I said

"Most likely," commented Jayden

"Hikers can become overcome by the trails, and that reminds me of a news story on YouTube of a person needing rescue on a trail due to fatigue," said Kiden

"Not us," I said. "When do we learn to cast magic?"

"Tonight," said Mai-Neng.

Jayden felt concerned and said, "Will they see us?"

"It's not explosive magic," answered Kiden

What magic will I learn?

Meanwhile, the helicopter landed in an alpine landscape. Three park rangers stepped out from the helicopter and approached their team member standing over a deceased black bear. Wayne took out a notepad and pen to document the situation and said, "The same cause of death as the other?"

"Yeah, you can tell," said the team member, Sanchez, pointing at the wound on the bear, "Very little trace of blood surrounding the body."

"Did you check anywhere else on the body?" asked Wayne

"No, I didn't," answered Sanchez

Then Marina, a wildlife medic, stepped in with gloves and inspected the deceased bear and found a tear hole in the body. "Same injuries as the other deceased bears."

"Whatever it is hunting the bears are also hurting the mountain lions," said Wayne, writing on the notepad, "I know from the medical files so far the bears and mountain lions are killed by injection of venom,"

The park rangers inspected the surroundings to get more clues. Marina found a torn-away brown pincered among the rugged rocks and lifted the pincer for further inspection.

"Confirming on air lifting the deceased male bear," said Wayne.