Half Dome

On the fourth day, Polly decided to climb Half Dome. Not on the famous cable route up the back (it was closed for the season anyway), but in the air. Half Dome's north face rises almost straight up from the valley floor. It is 1,500 metres of smooth granite, polished by a glacier 15,000 years ago.

På den fjerde dag besluttede Polly sig for at bestige Halvkuplen. Ikke ad den berømte kabelrute op ad bagsiden (den var alligevel lukket for sæsonen), men i luften. Halvkuplens nordside rejser sig næsten lodret fra dalbunden. Det er 1.500 meter af glat granit, poleret af en gletsjer for 15.000 år siden.

She started at first light. She flew from a pine grove near Mirror Lake and climbed slowly in spirals.

Hun begyndte ved daggry. Hun fløj fra en fyrretræslund nær Spejlsøen og steg langsomt op i spiraler.

At three hundred metres up, she joined a flock of white-throated swifts. There were dozens of them. They were the fastest small bird Polly had ever flown with. They flashed and screamed past her. Polly was the slowest bird in the air. The swifts did not seem to mind.

I tre hundrede meters højde sluttede hun sig til en flok hvidstrubede mursejlere. Der var dusinvis af dem. De var de hurtigste små fugle, Polly nogensinde havde fløjet med. De susede og skreg forbi hende. Polly var den langsomste fugl i luften. Mursejlerne lod til ikke at tage sig af det.

The wind picked up at five hundred metres. The granite was already warm from the sun. Warm rock heats the air above it. Hot air rises. Rising air lifted Polly. She climbed in long arcs, letting the rock do the work.

Vinden tog til ved fem hundrede meter. Granitten var allerede varm fra solen. Varm klippe opvarmer luften over den. Varm luft stiger. Stigende luft løftede Polly. Hun steg i lange buer og lod klippen gøre arbejdet.

Halfway up, she rested on a small ledge. From there she could see the cable route. The metal cables lay along the bare rock like a long thin spine. They were closed for spring. By July, hundreds of people a day would climb them.

Halvvejs oppe hvilede hun på en lille afsats. Derfra kunne hun se kabelruten. De metal kabler lå langs den nøgne klippe som en lang tynd rygrad. De var lukket for foråret. I juli ville hundreder af mennesker klatre dem hver dag.

At the top, the granite was flat. A hundred metres across, slightly tilted, with a few small piles of stones where humans had marked their summits.

På toppen var granitten flad. Hundrede meter på tværs, let skrånende, med nogle få små stenhobe, hvor mennesker havde markeret deres toppe.

She walked to the edge of the diving board, the famous overhanging slab, and looked down. The valley was a small ribbon below. El Capitan was so close she felt she could fly to it. The trees on the canyon floor looked like fuzz.

Hun gik til kanten af det berømte overhængende klippefremspring, og kiggede ned. Dalen var et lille bånd nedenfor. El Capitan var så tæt på, at hun følte, hun kunne flyve til det. Træerne på kløftens bund lignede fnug.

She stayed at the edge a long time. Then she pushed off the lip in a small calm dive and pulled up almost immediately to glide along the curve of the dome on the way down.

Hun blev ved kanten længe. Så skubbede hun sig fra kanten i et lille roligt dyk og trak næsten straks op for at svæve langs kuplens kurve på vej ned.