How it Was Today: Reflections in Yosemite Valley

What is my favorite season in Yosemite? Hard to say, but I tend to think that it is whatever season it is when I happen to be there. Except maybe for hot dusty August. I just had the happy opportunity to spend two straight weekends in the valley introducing my students to the fascinating geology to be found there.

 And a few living things as well. Can anyone tell me what kind of butterfly this is?

The spring melt, very unfortunately, is coming early this year. We had a great beginning in our precipitation totals through December, but the skies suddenly dried up, and we had the driest January to March precipitation on record, with a paltry 26% of normal. The early snows are gone, and the few additional snowdrifts are melting rapidly. But there is water in the valley right now, and the falls were full and booming. It was a beautiful day.

Iconic Half Dome was nicely reflected from a pond in the Cooks Meadow area. Half Dome, or more correctly Three-Quarters Dome, stood high above the icefields that filled Yosemite during the ice ages, and achieved its shape from exfoliation and jointing.

Sentinel Dome is sometimes missed, as it lies on the opposite side of the valley from Yosemite Falls. It is a spectacular edifice that would be the focus of a national park if it existed any place besides Yosemite Valley.

We went to some of the usual places. From Tunnel View we had a perspective of Half Dome from near the spot where the valley was first discovered by Americans of European descent. It must have been a stunning sight in 1851, although the significance of the awesome valley was lost on most of the militia members, who were more intent on capturing Miwok Indians. The medic for the crew, Lafayette Bunnell, was deeply impressed and his writings were part of the inspiration for making Yosemite a national Park. The Cathedral Rocks were sharply etched into the cloudless sky, and Bridalveil Fall was full. Thousands of people see this every day. What was it like to be the first person to see it, whether in 1851, or 4,000-5,000 years ago?

In springtime, Yosemite is graced with a multitude of incredible waterfalls, some of which don't last into the summer. One example is Ribbon Fall, which at 1,612 feet is actually higher than Upper Yosemite Falls (1,430 feet). It is just west of El Capitan and is easily viewed by visitors at Bridalveil Falls across the valley. It will probably be dry in a few short weeks, which is why it is less known.

Yosemite Falls was nothing short of spectacular. With a total drop of 2,425 feet, it is the fifth or sixth highest waterfall in the world. Its roar could be heard all over the center of Yosemite Valley.

I hiked to the lower falls as well. At 320 feet, it is dwarfed by the others, but a trail ascends quite close to the base, and it both wet and exhilarating to draw close. I had chosen to walk to the upper end of the valley, realizing that I could get there almost as fast as the tramways (lots of tram stops getting from one end of the valley to the other).

 The dogwoods were starting to bloom out too. It's one of the nicest signs of spring.

There aren't many other flowers on the valley floor yet, but our drive through the foothills afforded a great deal of color. There were white lupines....

 And a small magenta flower I didn't recognize. Can anyone identify it?

 Blue lupine could be seen all over the place...

And finally, a robin posed for me.

And that's how it was today.

Write About a Tree and it Falls Over: How it was in Yosemite today....

On our last trip to Yosemite in October, we had a delightful time witnessing the contrast between the vivid fall colors and a fresh new coating of snow. I also spent some time photographing a group of acorn woodpeckers working in their tree, an old dead ponderosa at the edge of Cook's Meadow (see the post by clicking here). The tree has been in this spot for a century or more, though it looked pretty unstable when we were last there. I should have known that writing about it would probably in the cosmic picture of things doom it. Here's how the tree looked today; I hope the woodpeckers are okay.

Meanwhile, winter is sort of wrapping up, with some snow in the high country this week, and clouds that were building up as we wandered about the valley. The falls were running nicely, but there was barely a speck of green anywhere (although the foothills are beginning to show a lot of color, especially poppies and fiddlenecks).

Half Dome was a no-show from the Tunnel View, but Bridalveil Falls looked nice, and had a huge pile of frazil ice at the base. Frazil forms when spray from the waterfall freezes and drifts down to the base of the falls.

 Yosemite Falls was also full of water and ice, and the wind was forming nice patterns of mist and shadow on the cliff face.
 In the later afternoon the rain clouds opened up, so we knew it was time to head on down the hill. As we were leaving, we could see the ghostly presence of the Cathedral Spires on the south rim of the valley. Winter isn't quite done with the Sierra Nevada...

And that's the way it was today.

A Spring Day in...Oh, Yosemite, you are such a tease!

Part of Upper Yosemite Falls

I was writing the other day about our slightly out-of-the-ordinary spring storm that brought us some much needed rain in the Great Valley. The next day, we had our spring field trip to Yosemite Valley, our chance to investigate the spectacularly exposed interior of California's Mesozoic magmatic arc and evidence of the work of Pleistocene glaciers. Oh, and a chance to see some spring wildflowers and greenery on the valley floor. The reality was a bit different!

Half of El Capitan

The valley's iconic features, the high cliffs and leaping waterfalls, were playing hide and seek with the tattered remnants of Friday's storm. Fresh snow covered the green shoots in the meadows. Yosemite was not what we were expecting!

It's not that we were disappointed. The view from the Wawona Tunnel was spectacular, even if most the rocky cliffs had "half" for a prefix: Half El Capitan, Half Sentinel Rock, One-third Cathedral Rocks, and No Dome...

 Bridalveil Fall and the adjacent Leaning Tower were as wonderful as always.

Knowing how dry this year has been, it was comforting to see that a bit more water would be available as runoff in the next few weeks. There have been precious few storms this year. Tioga Pass was still open in January! Walking across a frozen Tenaya Lake in a T-shirt in January was a bizarre experience.

While I was taking a picture of the meadow, a pair of ravens snuck up behind me, looking maybe for a treat. I think they weren't quite ready for this snowstorm either...

There may have been snow and clouds, but it just seemed to add to the mystery of this magical place. We were able to see most of the outcrops we were looking for, and even a partial Yosemite is one of the most unique places on planet Earth. The picture below shows my students and their first encounter with this special place. Many of them had never been to Yosemite Valley before. Moments like this are one of many reasons that I love teaching.

Spring in the Sierra Nevada: Some of Yosemite Valley's High Waterfalls

Yosemite Valley is justly famous for its beautiful waterfalls, and literally billions of pictures have been taken of them over the years (and that's just counting me). Bridalveil Fall (above) is one of the most visible and popular. During the spring runoff the falls run fast and cold and are the main reason most people are visiting Yosemite right now. It's too early for the flowers, and the high country is still wrapped in a deep, almost record-breaking blanket of snow. Although the eyes are drawn to the famous and familiar falls, springtime is a good time to see some of the less famous ephemeral falls that in any other place would be the center of attention. This last weekend, after chasing down rockfalls in the Midpines area, we made it to Yosemite Valley. This particular day I was able to discover a new thousand-foot high waterfall for the first time, and I caught another of my favorites from a new angle.

As noted a few posts ago, the highest single drop in Yosemite Valley is not Upper Yosemite Fall (1,430 feet), but is instead Ribbon Fall (1,612 feet) just west of El Capitan (above). It is usually viewed from the valley road near Bridalveil, but when I pulled out at Valley View at dusk, I saw it from a different perspective. There are a lot of trees that tend to block the view, but you can get a clear shot from...er...the middle of the busy highway. Needless to say, it is a stupid way to get a shot...

While I was standing...er...in the middle of the highway, I realized I had a fine view of a fall I had not noticed on previous trips...it is informally called Widow's Tears, and it drops over 1,000 feet down a series of ledges. There is some confusion about the name. As Mike Osborne reports in Granite, Water and Light, the name Widow's Tears once graced what is today Silver Strand Falls. The name was officially set aside in the 1920's, but in the 1970's ice climbers gave the name to this ephemeral cascade in the alcove just to the east. The northern shady exposure provides some excellent winter climbing opportunities.

If you ever sit down for a pizza in the plaza at Curry Village in springtime, be sure to look at the cliffs below Glacier Point for a view of one of Yosemite's really unique ephemeral waterfalls, Staircase Falls. The rocks have a prominent set of diagonal joints that force the water to fall over a series of ledges that cause the waterfall to go sideways around 1,000 feet while falling about 1,300 feet vertically.

Lest you think that I totally ignored the famous waterfalls, I most certainly did make a stop at the base of Yosemite Falls to catch the spray. The falls were booming away, but as I watched the beautiful spectacle, I realized it has been a rather cold spring. Most of the snow is still up there in the high country, and when the warm days come, these waterfalls are going to get even bigger. The temptation will be hard to resist, so expect a few more on-site reports in the next few weeks!