Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“That’s silly, Vienna. I can drop everyone and then follow you in the 4Runner,” Stella said. “They’ll have dinner put together by the time we make it back.”
“Or we can all just go at the same time,” Shabina said. “Dinner will only take a few minutes. You won’t need to make the extra trip to take us to the Airbnb. That’s just more driving time for you, Stella.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Because you never mind going out of your way,” Harlow said. “But it’s only a few minutes. We can hang. On the way back we can talk about the hike to Tuolumne Meadows.”
“It’s such beautiful country,” Stella murmured. “I’m so looking forward to that hike.”
“We have the permits, of course,” Raine said. “We’ll park at Tuolumne Meadows and take the shuttle to White Wolf Trailhead. Hopefully, that’s what you wanted, Stella.”
“Exactly,” Stella confirmed. “I want to start at the White Wolf Trailhead and hike to Tuolumne Meadows. We have four days. I know it’s a steep downhill and then a long uphill climb going that way, but the scenery is fantastic, and this time of year there will be few people.”
“The river should be high and the waterfalls really running with the snowpack so dense this year,” Harlow offered.
Raine nodded. “It’s supposed to be perfect weather for us too. I’m really looking forward to it.”
“I am too,” Vienna said. “Just the thought of getting outdoors for a few days and clearing all the cobwebs out of my head makes me feel better.”
Their drinks were ready and they collected them before once again getting into the large 4Runner. Stella drove her rig out to Calico Basin, which was actually in a residential neighborhood. Used to driving in all kinds of weather, Stella was careful as she took the SUV slowly through the streets to the parking lot. They were early enough that they managed to park in the dirt parking lot, when often, they had been warned, there were so many visitors that parking had to be found on the road, and they had to be careful not to upset residents.
All the women were used to hiking distances with backpacks and thick crash pads on their backs, but the trail to the Kraft Boulders was only a five-minute approach on a fairly flat and well-marked path. There was also a long hiking trail that took off to the left of the parking lot and circled back through the boulders, which day hikers often used. The locals often walked their dogs along that left trail, but the path to the right of the parking lot led directly to the famous boulders. Since they weren’t worried about weight, they loaded their daypacks with lots of snacks, chalk bags, shoes and a guidebook for the area. They shoved what they could into the two thick crash pads they brought with them, and then made their way toward the boulders.
The very first boulder they could see was the massive twenty-five-foot one called the Cube. It was a beautiful but very intimidating boulder with several very hard routes on it. They knew from the beta—information—that Raine had collected for them ahead of time that the downclimb was sketchy and hard, so they had no intention of climbing that one today. Instead, they veered left toward a cluster of boulders along the trail that were all much shorter than the Cube.
Vienna inhaled deeply, grateful to be outdoors in the early morning sunrise with her friends, crash pads on their backs as they walked single-file along the trail through the red sandstone boulders until they arrived at the black warm-up boulder. Immediately there were a variety of routes nearby, including easier ones right along the trail that Shabina might find fun to climb. She was the least experienced, and all of them wanted her to enjoy climbing, not be afraid of it. They would all need to warm up, so convincing Shabina they weren’t doing easy climbs just for her as they put down their crash pads wasn’t difficult.
Vienna liked to climb. She liked puzzles and she liked any activity that allowed her brain to focus wholly on one problem and block out everything else. That way, she wasn’t all over the place. Climbing boulders kept her mind occupied with figuring out the best way up the surface of a rock. She wanted to center herself again after all the stressful time inside the hotel and casino.
When they needed money and Vienna suggested that she would get a job at one of the big casinos, Mitzi had told her she’d always had trouble being around large crowds and had developed an aversion to the casinos in particular. In her earlier years, like a lot of the men and women who wanted to put themselves through school, she had gone to work in one. Like most of her explanations, her mother had stopped abruptly and just said an emphatic no. She hadn’t forbidden Vienna exactly, but at the mere mention of the hotel/casinos, Mitzi could have a full-blown panic attack. Vienna respected her wishes and stayed away from them until her mother had gotten cancer and she felt she had no choice.