{"id":20339,"date":"2016-03-04T08:39:04","date_gmt":"2016-03-04T16:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=20339"},"modified":"2016-03-04T08:39:04","modified_gmt":"2016-03-04T16:39:04","slug":"friday-fun-when-the-lava-flows-at-yosemite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/04\/friday-fun-when-the-lava-flows-at-yosemite\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday Fun \u2013 When the \u201cLava\u201d Flows at Yosemite"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sorry to inform you, but you’ll have to wait until next February if you hope to view the “lava” flow over Horsetail Falls<\/em><\/strong> in Yosemite National Park<\/em><\/strong>.  <\/p>\n

It’s not that you can’t get tickets as if it were a Sold-Out event – it’s because the spectacular natural Horsetail Falls<\/em><\/strong> Firefall<\/em><\/strong> show that Mother Nature<\/strong> puts on occurs only once a year in late February.  And the opportunity to view it lasts for only about 10 days … and only for 10 minutes each day right at sunset.  But boy, when the illusion of “lava” flowing down Horsetail Falls’ 1,570 feet (480 meters) face happens – it’s breathtakingly gorgeous!<\/p>\n

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And there’s no guarantee that there’ll even be a Firefall next year.  The conditions must converge perfectly, and that hasn’t happened for at least the past 5 years because of the drought plaguing California. <\/p>\n

Obviously the first criterion is enough water to have the Horsetail Falls’ “lava” flow.  And this year they’ve had enough snow in the Sierra Mountains to ensure that the falls could be fed.  Then the temperatures must warm enough to melt the snowpack in order to produce enough water for the “lava”.  And then the sun must be aligned perfectly at just the right angle to produce the red, orange and gold reflections to create the illusion.  And for that to happen there can be no cloud cover, which is pretty rare in February.  And then you have to be in the perfect spot in Yosemite Valley to view Horsetail Fall, which is on the east face of El Capitan, to capture it all.<\/p>\n

We should note that while the angle of the sun is also properly aligned in October, there’s no water flowing at that time of year to produce the Firefall.  But this year the Firefall of Horsetail Falls was phenomenal. <\/p>\n

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The natural Horsetail Firefall should not be confused with Yosemite Firefall that began in the summer of 1872 and continued for almost a century.  The owners of the Glacier Point Hotel<\/em> had hot embers from dying fires raked over the edge of Glacier Point to Yosemite Valley 3,000 feet below. From a distance it appeared as a glowing waterfall.<\/p>\n