Anywhere Else, They Would be Exceptional: Can you Succeed at this Yosemite Valley Scavenger Hunt?

I've been privileged to visit Yosemite Valley dozens and dozens of times over the years, often dragging students, and sometimes with just me and Mrs. Geotripper. We always revel in the beautiful sights, and study the various moods of iconic features like Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, and El Capitan. But there are many times when I notice other unique geological features that in any other setting on the planet would probably be the centerpiece of a national or state park. They get lost in the grandness of this extraordinary landscape. That is the reason for today's post. If you are ever lucky enough to visit Yosemite Valley, take your pictures of Half Dome and Bridalveil Falls, but keep an eye out for some of these other exceptional rocks and waterfalls.

First up is North Dome (above). Just think about it...aren't you just settling for less when you concentrate on Half Dome? Why not a whole dome? It's there if you know where to look (or you know how to read a map!).

Elephant Rock (above) is tucked away on the canyon rim somewhere where the park service didn't even worry about powerlines spoiling the view of the rock. Even more important: can you see the elephant? After 30 years I finally figured it out...

Silver Strand Falls suffers from "backwards distraction". Some sights in Yosemite are so awesome that you can't do anything but stare. And never turn around to see what is happening behind you. There is an epic sight in the opposite direction and thus you might never notice it...a 574 foot high waterfall! It's especially spectacular in winter when the waterfall may be entirely frozen.

Another sight that gets lost in the shuffle of the big views in Yosemite Valley is Sentinel Dome. It's another "whole dome", and while it is not as imposing as Half Dome, it's a great deal easier to climb. In fact, the trail to the summit is only a mile long, and the view is stunning.

Is it possible to simply not see a 1,180 foot high waterfall? It seems like it would be hard to miss, but that's the case with Lehamite Falls. It has the distinction of the only feature in Yosemite Valley that retains its original Ahwaneechee name. It's not behind some other feature. In fact, it often appears on the edge of shots of one of the iconic waterfalls of Yosemite.

There is another waterfall that can be easy to miss. Staircase Falls can be heard splattering down the cliffs behind a well-known pizza shack in Yosemite, but it often gets missed in the shuffle. It's 1,300 feet high, just short of Upper Yosemite Falls (although it descends in a series of...stairs).

Finally, can you guess the location of this stunning example of exfoliation in action? Exfoliation is the tendency of newly exposed rocks to break in planes that are parallel to the surface of the rock, causing the monolith to eventually take a dome-like shape.

Do you know Yosemite well? What features do you think don't get enough attention by park visitors?

Yosemite's Waterfall Riches: When the Junior Varsity Team Outdoes Everyone Else's Varsity

Ribbon Falls (1,612 feet) just west of El Capitan. The colorful red trees aren't fall colors; they're conifers killed by California's extended drought.

You wouldn't know it from the fine physique I carry around on my middle, but I once had an exciting career in high school track and field, and also cross-country running. I was even one leg of a relay race against a relay team with Steve Scott, one of America's greatest milers (yes, our team lost). I learned a lot from that experience, the most important being that I was too lazy to be a world-class athlete, and too slow. But the other thing I learned was that some teams were so good that their junior varsity teams could beat any other varsity team in the district.

Which brings us to Yosemite Valley. I've been up to the park twice in the last month, but Mrs. Geotripper wasn't able to come along, so I didn't argue at all on Sunday when she said "Let's go". I wrote a recent blog showing off some of the beautiful waterfalls that made the valley famous ("Yosemite's Dance of the Seven Veils"), but this trip I was realizing that Yosemite's junior varsity waterfalls are as good as any other valley around. You might miss them if you visit in the summer, but they are stunning when you get a chance to see them.

Ribbon Fall

One of them has the greatest free-fall of any waterfall in the valley (and probably in the United States). Called Ribbon Fall, it drops 1,612 foot (491 meters). Because it is one of the first ones seen by visitors arriving in the valley (it's west of El Capitan near the entrance to the valley), it's often mistaken for Yosemite Falls. Yosemite Falls is technically a taller waterfall at 2,425 feet (739 meters), but it's broken into three parts with the Upper Falls having the greatest free-fall at 1,430 feet (440 meters). Ribbon is an incredible sight at this time of year, but it dries up quickly in the spring, as it has a very small watershed.

I showed off Sentinel Falls in the last post about Yosemite, but I got closer this time and got a picture from a different angle. The falls are on the south side of the valley near Sentinel Rock and drop 1,920 feet (590 m). 

Yosemite Falls (2,425 feet/739 meters) are of course the waterfall of Yosemite Valley, but few people notice that there is another fall visible in the same scene. If you look in the distance on the right, you can just make out Lehamite Falls (1,180 feet/360 m), the only waterfall in Yosemite that retains an original Ahwaneechee name ("Arrowwood Fall"). It's true that the falls are a bit less spectacular than others in the valley, but were it not for a quirk of the glaciers, Yosemite Falls would have been very similar in appearance to Lehamite. Yosemite Creek was diverted by a glacial moraine and forced to its present location on the sheer cliff.

Lehamite Falls (1,180 feet/360 m)

People who arrive at Yosemite by way of Highway 140 through the Merced River Gorge are treated to a pair of waterfalls, one that is hard to miss and another that is hard to find. Cascade Creek and Tamarack Creek join together a thousand or so feet above the river and form Cascade Falls, with a drop of about 500 feet or so. There is a pullout and a parking area, so this one is hard to miss. 

Cascade Falls

There is a slightly "off" interpretive sign at the falls. It doesn't make clear that these are the Cascades, and a map suggests that one might be standing under Wildcat Falls. I noticed the discrepancy and looked around, believe it or not, for the first time in 80+ visits to the park and tried to see Wildcat Falls (720 feet/219 meters). It wasn't that easy, but hidden off in the trees to the west was a multi-tiered waterfall. I didn't have time to see the grotto at the base, but I got the shot below of the biggest single drop.

Upper Wildcat Falls

One more easy-to-miss fall in the valley is Silver Strand. The reason is that it above and slightly behind the awe-struck visitors standing at Tunnel View, perhaps the most famous vista in the park. The fall drops 574 feet (175 m), and often completely freezes over in winter, becoming an ice fall.

Silver Strand was almost completely obscured by the low cloud deck on Sunday, so I've included a picture from our trip a week ago when the skies were clear.

Silver Strand falls in the sunlight (sort of)

Yosemite's waterfalls are without compare. There are many more that I didn't get pictures of last week, including the Widow's Tears (1,170 feet/360 m), Horsetail Falls (2,130 feet/650 m), Illilouette Fall (370 feet/110 m), Snow Creek Falls (2,140 feet/653 m), Nevada Fall (594-foot/181 m), Vernal Fall (317-foot/96.6 m), and the many unnamed falls and cascades that occur at this time of year. It's like they say, "when it rains (or snows), they pour"!

Under the Volcano: Changing the Emphasis -Part 4

Continuing a series of exercises on observing the generally unobserved wonders of Yosemite Valley, I offer today TWO waterfalls whose combined heights exceed 1,000 feet. One is world-renowned and is an icon of the National Park Service. The other is in the picture above, is ignored by practically every park visitor, has been photographed by yours truly only twice, and is the only waterfall in the park to retain it's original Miwok name: Lehamite Falls. Admittedly, it lacks the drama of Yosemite Falls, but it is interesting to me because it recalls a quirk about the history of Yosemite Falls: were it not for a chance movement of the Pleistocene glacier of Yosemite Creek, the Yosemite Falls would be as obscure as Lehamite Falls. And they were for a very long time.

First, the falls themselves. They lie in the far right side of the first picture in the shadowed cleft. The second picture is a zoom. They fall over a series of steps of only a few hundred feet at a time. Like many other of the waterfalls of Yosemite Valley, they only flow for a few months out of the year. Still, they drop 1,180 feet, which anywhere else in the world would be considered significant.

The "quirk" in the history of Yosemite Falls lies in the next post, because I don't understand the quirk in Blogger that only allows the first of my posted pictures to be thumbnailed. Does anyone have advice about that? Next post in a few moments.....