The Fleeting Brilliance of Horsetail Fall
For a few days in February and under the right conditions, the Yosemite waterfall creates a golden display at sunset
In our hed gif today we are enjoying the amazing natural phenomenon of sunset reflected from the cascading waters at Horsetail Fall. This small waterfall flows over the edge of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley during the early part of the spring season, depending on snowfall and precipitation levels of the winter. For about two weeks in February, the earth is aligned to the sun at just the right angle to position the waterfall perfectly to capture the brilliant yellow and pinky orange hues of sunset. Photographers and nature enthusiasts from all over the world come to Yosemite hoping to catch the fiery display, optimistic that the weather and clouds will cooperate to give them a breathtaking show. The firefall does not happen every year since conditions have to be just right. And even when the elements combine in just the right way, the Firefall lasts for only about 10 minutes.
Footage was taken from the National Park Service video about Horsetail Fail, which is well worth watching and gives much cleaner and more detailed colors than in the gif. Plus, it’s all kinds of informative.
Horsetail Fall is not the first Yosemite Firefall to attract tourists to the park. In 1872, the owners of the Mountain House Hotel created their own Firefall by pushing embers off the cliff at Glacier Point, a spot near where their hotel was located. At first this was simply a way to extinguish a nightly bonfire for that had been lit for guests, but after onlookers in the valley below noticed the falling embers and requested more displays, the hotel turned the Firefall into a scheduled event, generating a little extra money on the side. Soon a routine was established: spectators in nearby Curry Village would gather to watch the show, and a master of ceremonies was engaged to call out “Let the Fire Fall!” at 9PM when the embers would be purposely set to tumble. Ranger-Naturalists (the predecessors of current day park rangers) would hold programs in the campgrounds, being careful to end at 9 so that the show could be observed (and also to be well out of the way of tumbling embers), and visitors would sing “America the Beautiful.” The event was a national sensation: President Kennedy included a Firefall observation in his 1962 visit to Yosemite, and in the book (and also the movie) The Caine Mutiny, a character’s shore leave visit to the park with his girlfriend includes a viewing of the Firefall.
The event, with its’s river of glowing embers cascading off the cliff face, would be held semi-regularly, with breaks during wartime and the like. By the mid-1900’s, thousands of people came to Yosemite to see this man-made Firefall. But the practice was discontinued in 1968, as the park service determined that the collection of red fur bark needed for the spectacle and the fire hazard that the embers posed were detrimental to continuing natural preservation of the park. Additionally, the crowds that gathered to watch the show created traffic jams and trampled sensitive meadows and landscape, further degrading the park’s peace and natural beauty.
But soon a new Firefall would be christened at the park. The natural sunlit Horsetail Fall off of El Capitan was photographed in black in white in 1940 by Ansel Adams. But the phenomenon was popularized by Galen Rowell, who photographed the glowing waterfall for National Geographic in 1973 and brought greater attention to it. In recent years, the new Firefall’s popularity has soared, thanks in part to wider distribution of photos on social media. And again, the event is proving a bit too popular for the park ecosystem—visitors trample sensitive vegetation, leave trash and overwhelm restroom facilities, leaving them unsanitary. Starting in 2020, the Yosemite park service has closed and restricted some viewing areas to protect the park from damage due to overcrowding. But for some intrepid photographers, the event is still a must-attend; to catch even a fleeting glimpse of a incredible natural spectacle—one that may become increasingly rare as global warming changes precipitation patterns in the area.
Wikipedia: Horesetail Fall (Yosemite)
The Ansel Adams Gallery: Horsetail Fall by Galen Rowell
Yosemite--Mariposa County: "Yosemite Firefall 2024 Guide" by Theresa Ho, 1/3/24
The setting sun seen through grandly falling water. So are the Tabs of our Lives!
Great stuff! Thanks!