Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
CALIFORNIA – Horsetail Fall in Yosemite is famous for the "firefall" effect that occurs in February and March when the setting sun illuminates the water and makes it glow yellow, red and orange. Massive crowds gather in hopes of witnessing the event and you've likely seen stunning photos of it.
I love this video because the footage captures the natural ebb and flow of the Yosemite firefall, truly making it look like a flame.
Yosemite actually has a curious history with so-called firefalls. Starting in the early 1870s, the owners of a hotel in the park began the tradition of pushing a bonfire off the cliff at Glacier Point. There was no water involved, but the stream of glowing embers plummeting through the air looked like a waterfall.
This literal firefall drew onlookers over the years until it was banned in 1968 — I actually think it's shocking that park leaders allowed such a dangerous and damaging tradition to occur for so long.
Anyhow, it was about five years later people started noticing Horsetail Fall occasionally caught the sunlight just right during the month of February and became a natural firefall. Onlookers now come from around the globe to see this phenomenon in person. It's much more beautiful than the earlier version of the firefall, and it's 100% less likely to set the park on fire.
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