Firefall 2020

Last year’s firefall was undeniably epic. If you were on instagram last year and you follow the travel community, you would’ve seen at least one image from Yosemite’s annual Firefall occurrence. For those of you who don’t know, Firefall describes a natural event that usually takes place in a two week period of February in Yosemite National Park, California. There are some pretty specific conditions that lead to the phenomena, including a wet enough winter to create water in Horsetail Falls, the perfect angle of the setting sun and a clear enough sky that, in the moments following sunset, the cascading water gets backlit by the setting sun, appearing like a steady flow of lava coming over the top of El Capitan (arguably one of Yosemite’s most famous rock features).

2019 brought a particularly dramatic display of Firefall, following a wet winter and a heavy snowfall in the days leading up to the event. The temps had dropped enough to cover the entire valley with a blanket of snow, and visitors to the park were lucky enough to see those temperatures rise back up in time for the snow at the top of El Cap to melt and provide a huge cascade of water at Horsetail Falls. After seeing last year’s pictures popping up on social media, I knew that it was something I wanted to experience in person.

Fast forward to this year, and I took Thursday and Friday off work and, on Wednesday night, my friend Courtney and I embarked on the 12 hour drive to California to make it happen. We had heard the peak of Firefall was expected for the evening of Saturday Feb 22nd, however we knew our chances of seeing the phenomenon take place were pretty slim due to the lack of rain Yosemite has had this winter. With many of our friends abandoning the trip due to the poor forecast, we made the decision to head to Yosemite regardless of whether we would actually get to see Firefall because, well, Yosemite is still Yosemite, fancy lava falls or not. I have to say, I would find it hard to find an excuse not to go to the park when the option comes up, as it has quickly become my favourite US National Park, and the magic there is undeniable in every weather condition.

We arrived at the park shortly after 6AM and headed straight to Tunnel View to park up and catch an hour or so of sleep before sunrise. Our first shooting opportunity of the trip did not disappoint, and the valley slowly came into sight out of the darkness and we knew we’d made the right decision to come. Just look at that view!

Courtney and I spent the morning running around the valley floor and exploring all the reflections that the park was offering. One of the benefits of the lack of water was that the River Merced was pretty low, and the water was very still in a lot of areas, offering us up mirror-like reflections of all of the iconic rock formations to be found in the park. We were blown away by how peaceful the park was, and being a Thursday, it was relatively empty of the usual tourists. The weather was a little chilly, so after the sun had come up and made shooting a little more harsh, we headed to Degnan’s in the Village for a hot drink and a moment warming our frozen extremities by the open fire (a Yosemite must-do in the winter months). We spent most of the days in Degnan’s uploading photos, warming up and catching up on snacks. The early afternoons were spent hiking around the park, and our first evening found us scrambling up a rock pile to chase the setting sun as it engulfed North Dome.

Friday morning consisted of a beautiful calm start to the day at the riverbank under El Capitan and more impressive reflections for sunrise, and ultimately, a severe lack of water in the falls. The colder temps meant that the falls overall were light, but we did notice that towards the end of the day the snow was obviously melting as all of the falls seemed fuller and stronger. We were pretty pleased with the weather up to this point as it had provided some phenomenal shooting conditions, however we were starting to feel like there was no physical way for Firefall to happen. We started looking at other places to go, as we felt that the conditions were unlikely to improve in the Valley, but by this point in the afternoon, anywhere we would’ve driven had equally dreary weather and was still a good 5 or 6 hours away. We hiked up to Mirror Lake to burn off our dampened moods and although it had clouded over considerably by this point, we spent a nice hour or so sat by the water chatting and waiting out the overcast conditions.

On Saturday – peak day for the Firefall – we awoke to an overcast sky, and slept in due to the lack of sunrise. When we finally crawled out of the warmth of the car, it was to capture some seriously moody reflections down at the beach spot from the day before. It really is wild how much the weather changes the scenery in Yosemite, which is why I truly believe you can shoot it in any weather. We spent hours chasing the clouds as the reflections got crisper and crisper, exceeding our expectations for how still the river could possibly get.

Following our reflection fun, we headed to Yosemite Falls to see if we could catch a rainbow just as the sun started popping through the clouds. After spending an hour or so enjoying the stillness of the park from the meadow, we headed back to Degnan’s to warm up and get some food in our bellies. We watched at the skies got darker and darker as the morning passed into the afternoon, and then, to our surprise, we saw it start raining! Hallelujah! Rain brought us a new found hope for Firefall that we had pretty much given up on by this point. Knowing the rain would cause some moody vibes, we headed to Lower Yosemite Falls, and then up to Tunnel View to wait it out. We weren’t disappointed and spent about an hour or two shooting at Tunnel View, watching the rain fall and the fog roll in and out of the valley. When it got to be about an hour and a half before sunset, we realised that we needed to head back down to the valley floor if we were going to attempt to shoot sunset at El Cap with the crowds.

Back down on the valley floor we realised that everyone and their mother had decided Firefall might happen following the rain and we quickly deduced that we would have to become members of the groups of people we had been laughing at earlier for walking over a mile to the viewing area due to the lack of parking. We had seen these people walking down the road that had been blocked off (a first for YNP during Firefall thanks to the crowds in 2019 that trudged through off-limits areas to get new perspectives and caused irreparable erosion to the undergrowth) in the past few days and wondered what exactly it was they were waiting for given that the falls were dry, and now here we were, potentially hiking a mile down the road with all our gear to watch a bum sunset over some pretty rocks.

There was enough of a chance to make it worth it to us though, and as we got closer to El Cap and the skies above us started to clear, our pulses started racing and we found ourselves hop-skipping down the road, breaking out into a near-on jog as the anticipation grew. Knowing we were going to get the sunset angle we needed just made us even more eager to see if the rain had created the falls we would need to see the phenomenon take place. As we rounded the corner to El Cap, we were dismayed to find it shrouded in fog at the top, leaving us desperately wondering what lay beneath and whether whatever was there was going to light up in the setting sun.

Not knowing what to expect, we hurriedly weaved through the throng of people setting up their tripods, looking for our perfect comps, all as the fog started to lift and the sun started to dip down below the horizon. We planted our stuff in the midst of a smaller crowd at the back and looked up, camera’s poised, just in time to see the nose of El Cap appear, and to the right of it, the bright shining slot of light we had waited for. Admittedly -it wasn’t last years heavy flow – but given the conditions and the lack of expectation we had had, it was about as close to a miracle I have ever experienced and the effect was certainly genuine. We were super stoked as well that on top of our Firefall effect we had gotten one of the most insane sunsets I have ever seen (albeit one that we essentially missed the best angles of because we could only be in one place at once) but all in all the experience was magical and we went to bed that night so happy and feeling like the magic of Yos had once again made the 12 hours of driving worth it.

Sunday morning came quickly and we had planned to leave the park early after sunrise; a plan which was delayed by a missing sock, but fortuitously so. We were at Tunnel View getting ready to set out when Courtney realised she was missing a sock and we thought it might have fallen out the car that morning when she had gotten out of the car for one last bathroom break before we hit the road. This meant circling back down to the Valley for a retrieval mission, and thank goodness we did, because no sooner had we got out of the car for one last look at Half Dome, did we notice a herd of deer grazing in the frosty meadow. Eager to get our wildlife photographer on, we both headed down the path to sneak some shots, although we were surprised when the deer waltzed up to us crouched on the path and continued to graze, mere feet from where we were frozen still, framed by Half Dome in the background.

We excitedly turned back to the car and head back along the meadow when i noticed excitedly that Yosemite Falls was lit up in the background with nothing less that the elusive rainbow we had been searching for! This truly rounded off our perfect 4 days in Yosemite for Firefall. I think we both knew how insanely lucky we were to get the sheer variety of conditions that we did, allowing us to shoot multiple days in the same place and come away looking like we had shot in different seasons, let alone different places. Yosemite is just one of those places where you have to trust in the magic of the place. I hate to think how gutted we would have been if we had left when we considered it on Friday, but luckily for me, Courtney had faith in the wizardry and was able to pass that on to me too. Next time you’re in the park, just remember the magic of the Wizard of Yos, and remember that he always knows best, and will always bring you what you need! 😉

I hope bare minimum this encourages you to visit Yosemite National Park, and at best, I hope you decide to see Firefall for yourself next year, and join the race against the elements for what promises to be a spectacular trip either way! If you have any questions about our trip, ask them in the comments and I will be happy to answer!

Keep adventuring,

H

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