Firefall

Beginnings of the “Firefall” at Yosemite National Park, President’s Day, 2023

President's Day Weekend will forever hold a special memory for me. This is a specific time of year for us landscape photographers, and a year ago today I experienced it in quite a memorable way: Yosemite Firefall.

First, a little background for those of you not familiar. Firefall, more accurately known as the Horsetail Fall Special Event *, is a natural phenomenon that can occur in Yosemite Valley for about 10 days every February. During this timeframe, the setting sun hits Horsetail Falls in just a way to produce a fiery hue to the water. So it literally looks as if the waterfall is on fire.  I say can because there are several things that have to line up in order for Firefall to occur: 1) There has to be water in Horsetail Falls. This will be dependent on the amount of snow the winter prior, as this waterfall is seasonal based on the snow melt, and 2) the sun has to shine - meaning if it's overcast or a cloud blocks the sun during this window, you're out of luck.

I had heard about this phenomenon several years ago as I was gaining interest in landscape photography and starting the bucket list of places to visit, and then it fell off my radar until I was planning a work trip to California.  My Guideline #1 to maintaining my work-life balance and preventing burnout: if I can plan a fun and fulfilling excursion within my work travel that doesn't interfere with my actual work responsibilities, I do it. I had to be in Palm Desert the second week and weekend of February, which timed perfectly for the window of opportunity to see Firefall. It took a little bit of coordination, but was able to fly from Palm Springs to Sacramento on Sunday evening, which made for a more doable drive the next day (and it was a quick and cheap flight). I grabbed a rental car (making sure it was 4WD) and got a head start, staying that night in Stockton.

After spending the past several nights in a Palm Desert Resort, my accomodations (and meals) took a nose dive for the rest of the trip. The Studio 6 Suites I stayed in was essentially a recently renovated Motel 6, and the bathroom had this eerie sounding fan that I couldn't turn off. Nevertheless, I was out of there early aiming to get to Yosemite before 10, as the anxiety was building about a parking spot.

On the weekends during the Horsetail Falls Special Event period, a permit is required to get into the park to control crowds. Last year, the President's Day Monday did not require a permit, though they are this year (and if you continue reading you'll see why). I had done my research and studied the Yosemite Valley map, and planned my first second and third choices for parking. The challenge is that if you try to park in the lots closest down the one way road and it is full, you have to do the loop all over again... and then when you miss the turn for the second lot, you loop one more time. Between that and several photo stops along the way, I began to worry about parking as the cars began to stream in. I finally got myself situated (in a decent parking spot) around 11:30 and meandered around some before making my way to my shooting spot.

View of El Capitan from Southside Drive about an hour before the first rockslide occurred.

Little did I know at the time, but just around this time, a rockslide occurred just under the waterfall at El Capitan. I had literally been shooting images of it less than an hour before. It wasn't even until the next day that I knew the full scope of what had happened, when I chatted with a geologist shooting images to examine the rock's stability. All I really noticed was that the traffic getting into the park seemed really weird. Northside Drive had no cars at all (where is was planned to be one lane), and the Southside Drive was bumper to bumper with one lane of cars. After the fact, I realized that it took hours for people to get into the park, and some were being turned away. I guess my anxiety about getting there at a decent time paid off.

View for lunch at Yosemite National Park

So now that at least I am settled and parked, it was time for some lunch.  I grabbed a quick sandwich from a gift shop and ate it on a bench viewing Lower Yosemite Falls.  Not too shabby of a view.

In seeing the crowds of people grow, and hearing that you needed to claim your spot early, I headed down the road to the viewing areas shortly after lunch.

They had limited spots for viewing Firefall because over the years photographers trampled and damaged riverbeds and fragile landscapes, and after the late morning rockslide, even more areas were barricaded off . There was a small crowd already claiming their ground a clearing, so I posted up close enough to be social but distant enough to not be in their space. This is now a little before 2:30 - three hours before the event will be happening.

As the afternoon unfolded, the likelihood of us seeing Firefall looked promising. The rock face was illuminated in a way you could see what would be taking place in the coming hours and excitement grew.  I've got a good view and there's nothing more I can do- it's now all in Mother Nature's hands.

One of the gentlemen I was near had been to witness Firefall many times. Every now and then he'd say something that you couldn't tell if it was to anyone in particular, but it left open the opportunity to pose a follow up comment or question. One thing he was saying is how he had heard a bunch of "avalanches" that day, and soon after he made that comment a distant rumbling sound could be heard.  We both looked at each other to acknowledge the sound. Now I honestly cannot 100% connect the moment with the next thing I witnessed, but it makes sense this was all within the same few minutes.

About 4:55 PM after the second rockslide that day off El Capitan

As we all sit watching the setting sun and see the hazy clouds around, all of a sudden a yellowy mist starts to form below our view.  My initial thought (and blurtout) was oh look there's some fog coming in.  Hindsight I don't know why I said that as it obviously looked like dust, but why would I ever think there would be dust forming there.  But lo and behold, it was yet another rockslide.  At this point I didn't know that it was a rockslide that was causing the chaos in the park, so had no reason to think that was what happened (again).  I did manage to grab a few images of the aftermath with both my camera and my phone.   

But this wasn't what the show was about - the show was just getting ready to start.

Slowly over the next 40 minutes, the light began to narrow and the hues began to shift.  White light transitioned to yellow, and then to a narrow orange stream, and eventually moved to pink before extinguishing itself.   I do think we had some cloud cover that impeded the brilliance of the waterfall - and the waterflow itself wasn't super strong - but I did witness the phenomenon with my own eyes and am really glad to have checked it off my bucket list.

Firefall, President’s Day, 2023

We walked back with all traffic blocked on the North Drive and the cars becoming bumper to bumper as they were being directed to drive out on the South road in the opposite direction one would usually go. I opted to take my time, I grabbed a snack and a drink at the gift shop and meandered around again before getting in the car. The parking lot was still super chaotic and slow for people getting out. I had nothing else to do aside from get to the hotel and sleep so didn't let the traffic bother me (too much). I was staying right outside of the park in El Portal, and didn't get arrive until well after 8:00 that night.

I was very fortunate with the planning of this trip, as this evening was probably the last witnessing of Firefall in 2023. I did spend the next day at the park - which was a 180 degree change in the experience - parking lots emptied out early afternoon, and where there were moments of possibility of Firefall occurring again - but the cloud cover didn't allow the spectacle to occur. A snow storm was on its way - and by that Wednesday morning you weren't allowed in the park unless you had tire chains... and by that Saturday the park was closed (and stayed closed for several weeks due to historic snowfall). So despite it being a madhouse in the Park and not capturing a super stunning glow from Horsetail Falls, I am super glad I made it happen and checked this off of the Landscape Photographer's Bucket List of things to see.

Do I recommend Firefall - most definitely.  Would I do it again?  Yes... but it would be a smaller part of a larger adventure, where I had more time.  When (yes when) I get myself a van, I will be back.

*It is called Horsetail Falls Special Event so to not be confused with man-made Firefall tradition that occurred in Yosemite from 1872-1968 (more info on that here).