Di Atas Lembah

Polly terbang rendah melalui ngarai Merced, kepalanya yang merah-oranye menghadap angin yang berbau pinus dan granit. Di bawahnya, lembah terbuka. Tebing-tebing tinggi di kedua sisi. Sungai berwarna logam abu-abu. Lantai hijau panjang.

Polly came in low through the Merced canyon, her red-orange head turned into a wind that smelled of pine and granite. Below her the valley opened. Tall cliffs on both sides. A river the colour of grey metal. A long green floor.

Dia naik dan berbelok. Dari udara, Lembah Yosemite tampak seperti huruf U raksasa yang dipahat dari batu. Hampir benar. Dua puluh ribu tahun lalu, lapisan es setebal satu kilometer mendorong melalui sini. Es itu menarik blok-blok granit dari dinding dan meratakan lantai.

She climbed and turned. From the air, Yosemite Valley looked like a giant U cut out of stone. That was almost right. Twenty thousand years ago, a sheet of ice a kilometre thick had pushed through here. It pulled blocks of granite off the walls and ground the floor flat.

Dia terbang menuju El Capitan. Dinding itu sembilan ratus meter dari batu abu-abu pucat, hampir tegak lurus. Dua titik kecil berwarna menempel di permukaannya. Pendaki. Mereka sudah di sana dua hari. Mereka akan berada di sana dua hari lagi.

She flew toward El Capitan. The wall was nine hundred metres of pale grey rock, almost straight up. Two tiny dots of colour were stuck to the face. Climbers. They had been there two days. They would be there two more.

Polly hinggap di pohon pinus di tepi. Jarum-jarum pinus berbau seperti butterscotch di bawah sinar matahari. Dia bisa melihat para pendaki lebih jelas sekarang. Mereka bergerak dengan hati-hati satu gerakan pada satu waktu. Tak satu pun dari mereka melihat ke bawah.

Polly perched on a pine at the rim. The needles smelled of butterscotch in the sun. She could see the climbers better now. They moved one careful motion at a time. Neither of them looked down.

Truk penjaga taman mendaki jalan di bawah. Polly berpikir: cara terbaik untuk belajar tentang taman adalah dari kursi penjaga taman yang bekerja.

A ranger's truck climbed the road below. Polly thought: the best way to learn a park is from the seat of a working ranger.

Dia terbang turun ke tepi selatan, pelan. Seekor burung bangkai kalkun naik melewatinya di arus udara hangat tanpa mengepakkan sayap sekali pun. Polly merapikan kacamatanya melawan angin dan mengamati burung bangkai itu naik.

She flew down the south rim, slow. A turkey vulture rose past her on a warm air current without flapping once. Polly straightened her glasses against the wind and watched the vulture climb.

Di lantai lembah, udara hangat dan redup di bawah pepohonan. Dia mendarat di atas pohon pinus yang tumbang. Lebarnya dua meter di pangkalnya. Pohon itu telah tumbang lama sekali. Lumut sudah tumbuh di atasnya.

At the valley floor, the air was warm and dim under the trees. She landed on a fallen pine. It was two metres across at its base. It had fallen long ago. Moss was already growing on it.

Sungai Merced mengalir melewati, cokelat dengan lelehan musim semi. Polly melompat turun dan meletakkan kakinya yang kuning di pasir dingin di tepinya. Air membuat jari-jarinya terasa nyeri.

The Merced River ran past, brown with spring melt. Polly hopped down and put her yellow feet in the cold sand at its edge. The water made her toes ache.

Sebuah tanda taman bertuliskan SHUTTLE KE PUSAT PENGUNJUNG. Polly merentangkan sayapnya yang biru-hijau dan terbang ke halte shuttle.

A park sign read SHUTTLE TO VISITOR CENTER. Polly stretched her blue-teal wings and flew to the shuttle stop.

Shuttle itu adalah bus panjang berwarna hijau. Seorang wanita berseragam cokelat adalah pengemudinya. "Naik?" tanyanya. Polly memiringkan kepalanya. Wanita itu membuka pintu.

The shuttle was a long green bus. A woman in a brown uniform was the driver. "You riding?" she asked. Polly tilted her head. The woman opened the door.

Polly melompat ke pegangan di dalam. Bus bergerak. Di luar, El Capitan berputar perlahan melewati jendela. Pengemudi berkata, "Pemberhentian terakhir." Polly menyelipkan kepalanya di bawah sayap dan tidur.

Polly hopped to a railing inside. The bus rolled. Outside, El Capitan turned slowly past the windows. The driver said, "Last stop." Polly tucked her head under her wing and slept.