So I saw this article about a rare occurrence happening in Yosemite National Park.
It looked intriguing and I thought to myself "well, if I wasn't worried about inclement weather, possibly icy roads, and my car's general well being, I would TOTALLY go and try to see it (and of course, take a picture).
It just so happened that I had been thinking about heading to a wildlife refuge to try to capture some bird photos and I knew there was one in Merced. I also knew that the "friendlier" road into Yosemite ran through Merced. Very tempting to add this to my weekend itinerary. But did I mention that I'm scared of driving on ice?
Then I saw a notification from my dear friend Tutu who had posted a photograph of the "Firefall" and said that I should try to see this sometime in my life. :-)
The thing is, there is no guarantee that I would ever get to experience these conditions again. I read beaucoup articles about the Horsetail Falls firefall and learned that it requires several converging circumstances:
- The angle of the setting sun has to be right and only occurs in mid-to-late February and October.
- There has to be sufficient snowpack in the meadows atop El Capitan.*
- The temperature has to be warm enough for said snow to be melting and feed the fall.*
- The sky cannot be overcast to the West.
*These two reasons are why this doesn't work in October. Usually no snow/water atop El Capitan so therefore no waterfall.
So I decided to go...further impetus being a picture of gorgeous, orange daisies growing alongside Highway 99 in Atwater and Merced that was posted on Instagram by Cindy Buenrostro. I LOVE photographing flowers and when she told me the location, it seemed like it was all meant to be.
So, without further ado, here are my photos of the Horsetail Falls "Firefall". You can see how the color of the fire goes from gold at the start of sunset to the deep orange of lava at the end.
It's worth mentioning that I do wish I had gotten there earlier (but couldn't because of the amazing time I spent at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge) so I could have scoped out various spots and claimed dibs on a good one.
However, I did not and was made even later by the oily smoke billowing out of my engine while sitting in a fairly long line of cars waiting to enter the park. It was quite alarming
I pulled into the nearby parking lot after yelling at the ranger that I was afraid my car was going to explode. He waved and said to come back when I got it sorted out, which I did by leaving my car i the parking lot and walking back.
My car did not explode. I think it was just really angry at me for driving it all day (including a lot of time idling). After my car rested for about a half hour, I drove up to where I saw a lot of people parked on the side of the road, setting up tripods and staring up at a cliff face waterfall. I parked and wandered around talking to other amateur photographers until I determined that this was the right waterfall, but probably not the right place.
This is Horsetail Falls head on as it appeared at my arrival.
I got off the rock on which I was sitting when I figured this out and pulled my car back into the ever-increasing traffic. It soon became obvious where the main viewing spots were when there quickly was no further parking to be had along the road for miles.
I parked when I could and began walking as quick as possible towards the viewing spots. It had gotten quite dark in the valley and I was afraid I would miss it. There were literally hundreds lining the road and Merced River. Some intrepid photographers were actually standing in the freezing water (which still had snow and ice floating in it in places) or had waded to the other side.
I found a spot. In a bush. Actually beside a bush for my chair, but my tripod was in the bush hanging slightly over the edge of the raised riverbank. I was a little worried about it falling in, but felt fairly secure that the bush would help prevent it.
I settled in and took a series of photos at slightly different settings for the next 30 minutes (photos 1 - 3 above). When it seemed that the orange glow was fading, I packed up and started heading back to my car.
When I reached the higher road, I realized that the new angle allowed the water to still refract the light into orange, even though it was fading where I originally was. I snapped a couple picture sans tripod to capture the final fleeting minutes of what now looked like a lava flow (photos 4 & 5 above).
Then I made my way back to my car and was on my way...only to be stopped in traffic that did not move for over 40 minutes. I. Kid. You. Not. I do not know why. But it was quite clear that the park was not meant to accommodate hundreds (thousands?) of cars trying to leave at almost the same moment. It took over an hour total for me to be on way.
But it was worth it. Here is a pretty cool video from someone who did arrive early and hiked to a primo location. Stunning.
Hopefully, next year we will have good conditions again and I can do the same.
xoxo
