Celebrating Yosemite’s Firefall(s)

Each year in February, the setting sun illuminates Horsetail Fall in Yosemite Valley. When conditions are just right, the waterfall glows orange and red, creating one of nature’s most amazing spectacles: The Firefall.

From 1872 to 1968, however, Yosemite was famous for a different Firefall—this one manmade. For nearly 100 years, a pile of glowing embers was pushed over the edge of Glacier Point each evening in the summer, creating a glittering “waterfall of fire” that tumbled thousands of feet through the air.

This website is a celebration of Yosemite's two Firefalls. It's my hope that visitors will enjoy the photos and info, and contribute with their own Firefall thoughts and memories.

Cheers,

James Kaiser

_____

2013 Firefall

I won't be live blogging this year due to the publication of my new Costa Rica guidebook. But good luck to everyone heading to Yosemite to catch of glimpse of the Firefall! If you're interested in photographing the Firefall, check out the the Yosemite Conservancy's "Photographing the Firefall" class.

_____

2011 Firefall Blog

From Feb 15 through Feb 24, I blogged live from the Firefall in Yosemite. See my daily updates here as I attempted to photograph this elusive natural phenomenon.