The Firefall of Yosemite National Park - Horsetail Fall

Horsetail Fall is located in Yosemite National Park of California, it is a seasonal waterfall that active mostly in the spring season. The fall is flows from the east side of El Capitan. But, the main attraction in Yosemite National Park is the natural Firefall. The Firefall can be seen from the second week of February, the sun hits Horsetail Fall from the right angle to illuminate the upper side of the waterfall and in that perfect conditions of sun and water, the Horsetail Fall can be seen in orange and red color at the time of sunset.

Image credit - Wikimedia

Every year in February month, many traveler visit Yosemite National Park to see the magic of nature. The Horsetail Fall can be seen from many side in Yosemite Park. If the weather is bad then, the Yosemite Firefall will not glow in that conditions. If there snowpack is not enough in February, so there will not enough snowmelt to flow the waterfall, which flows down from the 1,570 feet at the east side of El Capitan. The warm temperatures during the day is enough to melt the snowpack. If the temperature is too cold, the snow will stay frozen and Horsetail Fall won’t flow in that conditions. Although, in October the sun hits Yosemite National Park at the same angle as it does in February, but the Horsetail Falls is usually dry in October because the runoff which feeds it has dried up for long time. The second main thing to keep this fall active is the western sky must be clear at the time of sunset. If the sky's are cloudy, then the sun rays will not be able to reach to the waterfall and Horsetail Falls will not glow like a fire.

The existence of nature made Yosemite Firefall was not known to the world for many years. The Awahneechee Indians lived in Yosemite Valley for many years, they knew about its existence, but they not passed this information to the outside people. Yosemite Valley was firstly discovered by the white traveler in 1851 and afterwards this natural wonder were largely promoted, but that time the main attraction of this waterfall, which glows like a fire was not mentioned. Also the white traveler John Muir, who lived in Yosemite Valley for few years to explore the park never knew about the Firefall.

Image credit - Wikimedia

In 1973, photographer Galen Rowell took the first photo of the natural Firefall, which instantly increased its identity among photographers. But that time the digital photography revolution was not take place and the usability of internet was very low to achieve the global fame to this Firefall. The photography blogs, photo-sharing sites and social media was discovered in the first decade of the 21st century and after that, the most dramatic and attractive images of the Firefall spread around the world. Nowadays lots of photographers and travelers visit Yosemite National Park each year in February, with the hope to capture a rare glimpse of this amazing natural waterfall.

Horsetail Fall is not a very big waterfall, but it is very famous because of its Firefall, that flows from the eastern edge of El Capitan in Yosemite Park. In each February, at the time of sunset the sun rays hits the waterfall and creates a deep orange glowing flow of water which known as the "firefall" or "Horsetail Fall".

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