Fire and Water
Sunset lighting up the Horsetail Waterfall on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.
El Capitan is a 3,000 foot tall vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park. Every year in February the setting sun will line up with the Horsetail Falls giving everyone quite the show, making it appear as if the water is liquid fire coming over the cliff face.
Some people have coined this phenomenon "Firefalls", unfortunately this name has a bad connotation with a past event in Yosemite Valley, The Yosemite Firefall was a summer time event that began in 1872 and continued for almost a century, in which burning hot embers were spilled from the top of Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park to the valley 3,000 feet (900 m) below. From a distance it appeared as a glowing waterfall. This event no longer happens, finally ending in 1968.
The current show is a natural phenomenon and is dependent on a couple of details. If it is a dry year and not enough water is coming over the falls at this time, no show. If a clouds roll in to the area and block the sun light, no show. The night before I took this photo it was snowing right around sunset, and even though it got close to giving us the effect that everyone was looking for, it did not happen.
So every day is different, you never know what you are going to get when you go there.
Fire and Water
Sunset lighting up the Horsetail Waterfall on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.
El Capitan is a 3,000 foot tall vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park. Every year in February the setting sun will line up with the Horsetail Falls giving everyone quite the show, making it appear as if the water is liquid fire coming over the cliff face.
Some people have coined this phenomenon "Firefalls", unfortunately this name has a bad connotation with a past event in Yosemite Valley, The Yosemite Firefall was a summer time event that began in 1872 and continued for almost a century, in which burning hot embers were spilled from the top of Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park to the valley 3,000 feet (900 m) below. From a distance it appeared as a glowing waterfall. This event no longer happens, finally ending in 1968.
The current show is a natural phenomenon and is dependent on a couple of details. If it is a dry year and not enough water is coming over the falls at this time, no show. If a clouds roll in to the area and block the sun light, no show. The night before I took this photo it was snowing right around sunset, and even though it got close to giving us the effect that everyone was looking for, it did not happen.
So every day is different, you never know what you are going to get when you go there.