Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board "Let the Fire Fall!"

For those of you who are old enough to remember, there used to be an event that took place in Yosemite, called the Firefall. Basically, they built a huge bonfire on the edge of the cliffs at Glacier Point, then when it burned down to coals, pushed it slowly over the edge, which created the effect of a waterfall made of fire.

The original firefall:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Firefall

What most people don't know is that there is a NATURAL firefall effect, which is an amazing freak of nature. I would classify this as one of the Wonders of the World. It only happens in February, at dusk.






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links to the natural one:
the original Galen Rowell photo that got people's attention to this is at the following website, page two:
http://www.mountainlight.com/gallery.yosemite/images.html


http://shutterbug.com/techniques/outdoor_travel/1206locations/

http://www.pcimagenetwork.com/water/p6.html

http://www.baoutdoors.com/2009/02/firefall-at-horsetail-fall-yosemite.html

http://www.aguntherphotography.com/node/1623

Thanks, Ken. Here's another picture I found on the web:

If you want to see what the Yosemite firefall (man made)looked like around 1954, grab a copy of The Caine Mutiny , a fictional WWII movie. The scene involves a naval officer on leave staying at the Ahwahnee with his sweetie. It was also one of Bogie's last films.

In reality the firefall was discontinued during WWII and the Ahwahnee was converted to a military convalescent hospital. But that's Hollywood.

Firefall scene from Caine Mutiny (extended repeat):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2ZCl5mst10

That's amazing, Ken. I've been fascinated with the Firefall ever since I saw Huell Howser's program on it. I never got to see the man made one, but it looks like the Horsetail Falls display would be an awesome sight with the right conditions. Thanks for sharing.

Dave

Mtntrailrunner, I guess you are talking about a temporary stoppage during the War? I camped in Yosemite in 1951, and thousands of us watched the firefall that summer, day after day. It was spectacular. I'm pretty sure it continued on a few years after that, which I'm sure you can discover somewhere on the Internet.

Correct. I did indicate to what it looked like around 1954. After the war there were factions within the Park Service that wanted to keep the hiatus permanent. But they succumbed to public demand.

The last official firefall was January 28, 1968.

Among other reasons, they stopped it because it was causing traffice jams and people were trampling/ruining the meadows when they came to watch the Firefall.

It was getting harder and harder to get enough wood to burn to throw over the cliff.

When did the Glacier Point Hotel burn down? Before or after they stopped the fall?

I just learned about the natural phenom of Firefall only a couple of weeks ago, and now I am packing to hit the road to go see it tomorrow. The pix that I have seen are otherworldly, and I so hope that the weather holds so that I can have my up close and personal experience.

B

Hope you can make it through all the fresh snow!

I did get to see the Firefall, back in the summer of '67, as a young lad. It was quite a sight, which I'm thankful I experienced. Ground zero, if you could call it that, was the Curry Village amphitheater. There was always a nightly program put on by NPS rangers (back in the good old days, before they began wearing bullet proof vests). At the conclusion, the ranger would tell everyone to be very quiet, and then one would yell, "HELLO, GLACIER POINT!" As we listened very intently, you could hear, ever so faintly from above, "...hello, camp curry...." The ranger would reply, "LET THE FIRE FALL!" and the embers would commence.

The main reason for halting the firefall was philosophical. It was an artificial display; for all its beauty, it remained a man-made event. The late '60's and early '70s were tumultuous times for Yosemite, from a management standpoint. IIRC, around the same time a similar philosophical decision was made re: Mirror Lake. The NPS dredged the lake yearly, as the streams feeding the lake delivered sediment. Without such intervention, the lake would eventually fill. The NPS decided this, too, was artificial, and opted to let the lake fulfill its ultimate natural destiny - to become a meadow.

Nothing, however, could match the political tumult over the sale of the YP and CC concessions. I believe it was 1970 when Curry Co was sold to MCA, the conglomerate that owned, among other things, Universal Studios. MCA saw a potential for huge profits, and, frankly, cared little about preserving the natural aspects of Yosemite. MCA wanted to tear down the tent cabins and build luxury resorts. Its most galling idea, however, was its plan to construct a tram to take their well-heeled customers from the valley floor to Glacier Point. That became a lightning rod for their opponents.

Sorry for the thread hijacking here. And don't get me started on Mono Lake .....

...Next thing you know, they'll be putting in a tram to the top of Mt. Whitney! ...and a Starbucks on top!

..now where is that picture?

I thought Starbucks was at Trail Camp?!?

There is no Starbucks at Trail Camp. gotta go all the way.

That pic isn't far from reality lol

Me and a friend would joke at times about how much money you could make if you set up a small beverage / burger shop on the trail.

You'll be really jazzed to know that the first picture I posted in this thread, of the original, was taken from that picture!

it happened yesterday, Feb 19th:

http://littleredtent.net/LRTblog/?cat=1