Big Waterfall
Vernal Fall is a 96.6m waterfall on the Merced River just downstream of Nevada Fall in Yosemite National Park, CA. The waterfall runs all year long, although by the end of summer it is substantially reduced in volume and can split into multiple strands, rather than the single curtain of water seen here.
Yan-o-pah (little cloud) was the local name of the fall before it was named "Vernal" by Lafayette Bunnell, a member of the Mariposa Battalion in 1851.
Above the falls - and off to the right of the image above - there is a pool of water called the Emerald Pool around which hikers lounge and rest. There is also a 20˚ slope of rock with water flowing into the pool called the Silver Apron.
Swimming above Vernal Fall can carry with it a great deal of risk: rocks are slippery, and strong undercurrents exist that may not be visible from the surface. It is not banned, but there are signs warning against it. Thirteen people are recorded as having entered the water above the falls and subsequently have gone over them since the 1920s. The latest were a trio in 2011.
However, going over waterfalls is not the only way to die in Yosemite. Base jumping, falling whilst rock climbing, landslides and and lightning strikes are also all causes of deaths in the park. Up to 20 deaths in a single year have been recorded since the millennium.
It might be surprising to some, but there have been no recorded fatalities from encounters with the numerous black bears in the park, although injuries have occurred, as well as significant damage to parked vehicles whose owners have ignored the plentiful advice and left food in them. Indeed, the casualties are much more significant the other way around, with at least 10 bears killed by cars in the park in 2016 alone.
This view was taken in May 2002 and has been scanned from a negative.
Big Waterfall
Vernal Fall is a 96.6m waterfall on the Merced River just downstream of Nevada Fall in Yosemite National Park, CA. The waterfall runs all year long, although by the end of summer it is substantially reduced in volume and can split into multiple strands, rather than the single curtain of water seen here.
Yan-o-pah (little cloud) was the local name of the fall before it was named "Vernal" by Lafayette Bunnell, a member of the Mariposa Battalion in 1851.
Above the falls - and off to the right of the image above - there is a pool of water called the Emerald Pool around which hikers lounge and rest. There is also a 20˚ slope of rock with water flowing into the pool called the Silver Apron.
Swimming above Vernal Fall can carry with it a great deal of risk: rocks are slippery, and strong undercurrents exist that may not be visible from the surface. It is not banned, but there are signs warning against it. Thirteen people are recorded as having entered the water above the falls and subsequently have gone over them since the 1920s. The latest were a trio in 2011.
However, going over waterfalls is not the only way to die in Yosemite. Base jumping, falling whilst rock climbing, landslides and and lightning strikes are also all causes of deaths in the park. Up to 20 deaths in a single year have been recorded since the millennium.
It might be surprising to some, but there have been no recorded fatalities from encounters with the numerous black bears in the park, although injuries have occurred, as well as significant damage to parked vehicles whose owners have ignored the plentiful advice and left food in them. Indeed, the casualties are much more significant the other way around, with at least 10 bears killed by cars in the park in 2016 alone.
This view was taken in May 2002 and has been scanned from a negative.