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rolled to the bottom, scraping our arms and legs, maybe even breaking something, if we hadn’t managed to clutch exposed tree roots. By contrast, Jason scurried up like a mountain goat.
    Breathing hoarsely, Petey and I crawled over the rim and found Jason waiting for us on a wide slab of rock that provided a view of the stream below us and the chasm through which it churned. Two hundred feet above it, we were far enough from the roar for me not to need to shout when I warned Jason, “Stay away from the edge.”
    “I will,” he promised. “But, gosh, this is totally neat, Dad.”
    “Beats watching television, huh?” Petey said.
    Jason thought about it. His face assumed an expression of “I wouldn’t go
that
far.”
    Petey laughed.
    “Where’s that cave you mentioned?” Jason asked.
    “I’m having trouble remembering,” I said. “Somewhere on this side of the stream is all I know for sure.”
    “Can we look for it?”
    “Absolutely. After we take a break.”
    I settled onto the stone slab, unhooked my canteen from my belt, and took a long swallow of slightly warm, slightly metallic—tasting, incredibly delicious water. The park ranger I’d spoken to on the telephone had emphasized that we needed to take canteens with us and knapsacks containing trail food, a compass and a topographical map (neither of which I knew how to use), a first—aid kit, and a rain slicker in case the weather turned bad. “Dress in layers,” she’d advised. “Keep a dry jacket in your knapsack.” I’d already put on my denim windbreaker before we left the car. Now the hike had so warmed me that I took off the jacket and stuffed it into the knapsack.
    “Anybody want some peanuts and raisins?” I asked.
    “I’m still full from lunch,” Petey said.
    Jason looked uncomfortable.
    “What’s the matter?” I asked.
    “I have to …”
    It took me a moment to understand. “Pee?”
    Jason nodded, bashful.
    “Go around that boulder over there,” I told him.
    Hesitant, he disappeared behind it.
    My parental obligations taken care of for the moment, I stepped forward to admire the chasm. The stream tumbled down a series of low waterfalls. Spray hovered over it. How had Jason described the view? “Neat”? He was right. This
was
totally neat.
    Behind me, he suddenly shouted, “Dad!”
    Something slammed my back with such force that it took my breath away. I hurtled into space.

15
    The drop sucked more of my breath away. The little that was left jolted from my mouth when I struck loose stones. Avalanching with them, rolling sideways, I groaned. Abruptly, I hurtled into the air again, plummeting farther, my stomach squeezing toward my throat. I jerked to an agonizing stop, my left arm stretching as if it were about to be ripped from its socket. My arm slipped free of something. I dropped again and hit something hard. Cold mist swallowed me. Darkness swirled.
    When my eyelids slowly opened, black turned to gray, but the swirling continued. Pain awoke throughout my body. Delirious, I took a long time to realize that the gray swirling around me was vapor thrown up from the cascading stream. The roar aggravated my dizziness.
    I felt that I was breathing through a cold, wet washcloth. Gradually, I understood that my left arm was across my nose and mouth. My shirtsleeve was soaked from the vapor that the thundering stream tossed into the air. Then I trembled, seeing that my sleeve was wet from something besides the mist. Blood. My arm was gashed.
    Alarm shot through me. I fought to raise my head, and discovered that I was on my back on a ledge. Below was a fall of what I judged to be 150 feet. A series of outcrops led sharply down to the roaring stream.
    Jesus, what had happened?
    I peered up. The vapor made it difficult for me to see the top of the cliff. Nonetheless, through the haze, I could distinguish a long slope of loose stones below the rim. The slope had saved my life. If I’d fallen directly to where I now lay, my injuries