Firefall At Yosemite, An Enduring Fantastic Natural Beauty

Day after day, it seems, we find something that shocks us–something we did not know that, had we known it, we might have dropped everything to go and see. This February is coming to a close, so we will have to wait until 2017 to check this out in person, but for now thanks to the Science section of the New York Times for bringing it to our attention:

Instagram was filled with thousands of versions of the firefall. These are a few that photographers shared with us. CreditClockwise, from top left: Vincent James, @vjamesphoto; Andrew McDonald/High Sierra Workshops; Carlos Loya, @t3nthirty1; Jeff Lui, @jeffreyplui; Bethany Gediman, National Park Service; @xbirdo; Nicki Frates, @nickif24, @theoutdooradventurer; Wayne Nguyen, @potatounit; Vincent James, @vjamesphoto; Gregory Woodman, @gregorywoodman

At Yosemite, a Waterfall Turns Into a Firefall

Trilobites

By TATIANA SCHLOSSBERG

For a few weeks in February if the conditions are just right, for about 10 minutes around sunset, one waterfall in Yosemite National Park looks more like its opposite — a firefall.Visitors who flocked to the park this week, many with cameras in tow, have not been disappointed by the glowing transformation of Horsetail Fall, which flows from El Capitan.

“In the over 20 years I have been photographing the firefall and leading workshops there in Yosemite, I have never seen a more spectacular one,” said Michael Mariant, a photographer from Morro Bay, Calif., who leads teaching trips to Yosemite.

The phenomenon occurs only if there has been enough snow and rain in the Sierra Mountains to fuel the waterfall, if the skies are clear and if the setting sun strikes the water at an angle that creates the illusion of lava.