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.

Siku ya nne, Polly aliamua kupanda Nusu Dome. Sio kupitia njia maarufu ya nyaya upande wa nyuma (ilikuwa imefungwa kwa msimu hata hivyo), bali angani. Uso wa kaskazini wa Nusu Dome unapanda karibu wima kutoka sakafu ya bonde. Ni mita 1,500 za granite laini, iliyosuguliwa na barafu miaka 15,000 iliyopita.

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

Alianza mapema asubuhi. Aliruka kutoka kwenye msitu wa misonobari karibu na Ziwa la Mirror na kupanda polepole kwa mizunguko.

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.

Akiwa juu ya mita mia tatu, alijiunga na kundi la ndege weupe wenye koo. Walikuwa wengi. Walikuwa ndege wadogo wenye kasi zaidi ambao Polly alikuwa amewahi kuruka nao. Walipita kwa kasi na kelele karibu naye. Polly alikuwa ndege mwepesi zaidi angani. Ndege hao hawakuonekana kujali.

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.

Upepo uliongezeka kwenye mita mia tano. Granite ilikuwa tayari imepata joto kutoka kwa jua. Mwamba wa moto huongeza joto la hewa juu yake. Hewa ya moto hupanda juu. Hewa inayopanda ilimwinua Polly. Alipanda kwa mizunguko mirefu, akiacha mwamba ufanye kazi.

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.

Katikati ya kupanda, alipumzika kwenye mwamba mdogo. Kutoka hapo aliweza kuona njia ya nyaya. Nyaya za chuma zililala kwenye mwamba wazi kama uti mwembamba mrefu. Zilikuwa zimefungwa kwa ajili ya masika. Kufikia Julai, mamia ya watu kwa siku wangepanda.

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.

Juu, granite ilikuwa tambarare. Mita mia moja kwa upana, imeegemea kidogo, na marundo madogo ya mawe ambapo wanadamu walikuwa wameweka alama za kilele chao.

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.

Alitembea hadi ukingo wa ubao wa kuruka, slab maarufu inayoning'inia, na kutazama chini. Bonde lilikuwa kama utepe mdogo chini. El Capitan ilikuwa karibu sana alihisi angeweza kuruka hadi hapo. Miti kwenye sakafu ya korongo ilionekana kama manyoya.

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.

Alikaa kwenye ukingo kwa muda mrefu. Kisha alijisukuma kutoka kwenye mdomo kwa kuruka kidogo kwa utulivu na akainuka karibu mara moja ili kuelea kando ya mwinuko wa dome katika njia ya kushuka.