Pedernales Rising Ch. 03: The Falls

Travis must have noticed the same because I hear him say "Shit!" As he yanks my arm in the direction of the north bank, hard.

"It's flash flooding, we gotta go NOW!"

I realize he's right. The stream we leapt across to get here is a swiftly moving current far too wide to jump and too dangerous to swim. The opposite bank is the only option.

The low rumble in the distance has quickly become a roar. We are slogging through the river, scrambling over the slippery limestone hunks quickly disappearing beneath the gray water. The sky overhead looks dark and angry, like smoke. Travis has to pull me along in some stretches of river as I struggle to keep my footing. Though I'm a strong swimmer, I'm genuinely frightened. My mind is racing and my blood is pumping, terrified as I fumble across the rising stream. Natural debris flies by us quickly atop the water, and larger, unknown objects knock against my shins with force, pulled along by the strong undertow beneath. Travis tightens his grasp around my wrist, tethering me to his determination.

I begin to feel relief as we approach the opposite bank, but as we climb out, my heart sinks and my stomach turns over. Where the southern bank whence we came is generously wide, gravely, and gently sloping, the northern bank where we find ourselves offers almost no footing especially with the increasing depth of the river--just a steeply ascending limestone wall that, eventually, turns into an uninviting tangle of shrubbery, perhaps 20 feet above.

"Oh my god, what if we can't--" I whimper.

Travis doesn't hesitate as he grabs me firmly by hips and thrusts me up onto the crag and commands, "Climb!"

My hands fly over the rock looking for something to grasp. There isn't much, but I find a little seam of rock to slip a fist into. My weight precariously transferred onto the rock face, Travis moves his hands under my heels and with a grunt, delivers a shove that boosts me high enough to reach some large gnarly roots above. Driving the balls of my feet desperately into the slippery rock, I manage to hook my elbow between the large root and the cliffside. More secure now, I reach my hand down to Travis.

"Come on!" I urge.

He bounces a little on his toes like a boxer before lurching into the air, running up the rock with his feet. He catches my hand with his, as his other hand manages to grab a bundle of precariously delicate roots sprouting from the limestone. His weight yanks on me violently, but thankfully the ancient root holds true. Travis' finds better footholds, and hand over hand, athletically pulls himself up along the roots. Finally, he heaves his torso over the ledge into the roughage, followed by his lower body. As he disappears above me, a deafening noise like a cannon booms through the valley from upstream, startling a scream from my lips. I whirl around in time to see a wall of water and debris explode from behind the natural dam at the top of the falls. Huge logs launch many feet into the air, crashing loudly as they land into the coursing black water raging over the rocky islands, eclipsing them entirely.

Dangling naked from the rock face, the force of the river raging toward me paralyzes me with fear. I hear Travis call from above "Give me your hand!" But I can't move. My whole body feels weak with terror, and I'm afraid if I let go, I'll fall into the black water, swept away like a leaf.

My eyes glued to the churning blackness racing toward me, I feel a firm hand pulling at the crook of my arm. When Travis has a good enough grip, he wrestles me free from the root, grunting with effort. "You have to climb, now!"

Shaken from my paralyzed state, I take his hand and my feet find any protrusion to propel my body up the cliff. Finally, my torso finds the comfort of gravity against the flat top of the ledge, and with a yank, Travis drags the length of my exhausted body to safety. We both scramble to our feet and back away from the edge, snapping twigs under our feet.

The noise around us is all-consuming. The valley is flooded with a nightmarish, never-ending crashing sound. Below us, the angry water swallows every contour of the valley, where just a moment ago my vulnerable body hung like bait on a hook.

To think what might have happened...

"I'm so sorry--" is all I manage to squeak out before Travis wraps his whole body around me in a firm embrace. I bury my face in his chest and cry out of fear and relief. My wet, dirty hair sticks to my cheeks, hot tears mixing with cold rain.

I can't be sure if it's Travis, or the river below that replies "Shhhhh."