Nad Údolím

Polly preletela nízko cez kaňon Merced, jej červeno-oranžová hlava sa otočila do vetra, ktorý voňal po boroviciach a žule. Pod ňou sa otvorilo údolie. Vysoké útesy na oboch stranách. Rieka farby sivého kovu. Dlhé zelené dno.

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.

Stúpala a otáčala sa. Zhora vyzeralo údolie Yosemite ako obrovské písmeno U vyrezané z kameňa. A to bolo takmer pravda. Pred dvadsiatimi tisíc rokmi tu prešla ľadová vrstva hrubá kilometer. Vytiahla bloky žuly zo stien a vyrovnala dno.

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.

Letela smerom k El Capitan. Stena bola deväťsto metrov bledosivého kameňa, takmer kolmo hore. Dve malé bodky farby boli prilepené na tvári. Horolezci. Boli tam už dva dni. Budú tam ešte dva.

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 si sadla na borovicu na okraji. Ihličie voňalo po karamele na slnku. Teraz videla horolezcov lepšie. Pohybovali sa opatrne, jeden krok za druhým. Ani jeden z nich sa nepozrel dolu.

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.

Cesta pod nimi stúpala a na nej šlo auto strážcu parku. Polly si pomyslela: najlepší spôsob, ako spoznať park, je z miesta pracujúceho strážcu.

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.

Letela pomaly dole po južnom okraji. Morkový sup sa zdvihol okolo nej na teplom vzdušnom prúde bez jediného mávnutia krídel. Polly si upravila okuliare proti vetru a sledovala, ako sup stúpa.

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.

Na dne údolia bol vzduch teplý a tlmený pod stromami. Pristála na padnutej borovici. Mala dva metre pri základni. Spadla už dávno. Na nej už rástol mach.

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.

Rieka Merced tiekla okolo, hnedá od jarného topenia. Polly zoskočila a položila svoje žlté nohy do studeného piesku na jej okraji. Voda jej spôsobila bolesť prstov.

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.

Značka parku hlásala SHUTTLE DO NÁVŠTEVNÍCKEHO CENTRA. Polly natiahla svoje modro-zelené krídla a letela k zastávke.

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

Shuttle bol dlhý zelený autobus. Žena v hnedej uniforme bola vodička. "Pôjdeš?" spýtala sa. Polly naklonila hlavu. Žena otvorila dvere.

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 poskočila k zábradliu vo vnútri. Autobus sa rozbehol. Vonku sa El Capitan pomaly otáčal za oknami. Vodička povedala: "Posledná zastávka." Polly si zastrčila hlavu pod krídlo a zaspala.

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.