Half Dome

Polly memutuskan untuk mendaki Half Dome. Dia tidak memanjat bebatuan. Dia terbang di udara.

Polly decided to climb Half Dome. She did not climb on the rocks. She climbed in the air.

Half Dome adalah granit halus setinggi 1.500 meter. Sebuah gletser membuatnya halus 15.000 tahun yang lalu.

Half Dome is 1,500 metres of smooth granite. A glacier made it smooth 15,000 years ago.

Dia memulai saat fajar. Dia terbang naik dalam lingkaran lambat.

She started at first light. She flew up in slow circles.

Pada ketinggian tiga ratus meter, dia bergabung dengan sekelompok burung kecil cepat yang disebut swifts. Mereka bergerak cepat. Mereka berteriak satu sama lain. Polly adalah burung paling lambat di sana.

At three hundred metres up, she joined a group of small fast birds called swifts. They moved fast. They screamed at each other. Polly was the slowest bird there.

Angin semakin kencang. Batu yang hangat memanaskan udara. Udara hangat naik. Itu membawa Polly naik.

The wind got stronger. The warm rock heated the air. The warm air went up. It carried Polly up.

Di tengah perjalanan, dia beristirahat di sebuah tebing kecil. Dia bisa melihat jalur kabel. Orang-orang mendaki dengan kabel di bagian belakang kubah. Jalur itu ditutup untuk musim semi.

Halfway up, she rested on a small ledge. She could see the cable route. People climb on cables up the back of the dome. It was closed for spring.

Di puncak, granitnya datar. Ada tumpukan kecil batu. Orang-orang meninggalkannya.

At the top, the granite was flat. There were small piles of stones. People had left them.

Dia berjalan ke tepi. Dia melihat ke bawah. Lembah jauh di bawah. Pohon-pohon tampak seperti bulu hijau.

She walked to the edge. She looked down. The valley was far below. The trees looked like green fuzz.

Dia meluncur dari tepi dalam lompatan kecil. Kemudian dia membuka sayapnya dan meluncur turun.

She pushed off the edge in a small dive. Then she opened her wings and glided down.