An ephemeral or momentary waterfall just streams at specific times, as well as usually not for long. (“Ephemeral” means “lasting an extremely brief time.”) This kind of waterfall may last for a few hours after a hefty rainstorm or a couple of weeks as a result of seasonal drainage.
One trendy example is Horsetail Fall in Yosemite National Forest. (The park is house to many ephemeral falls, yet only Horsetail Autumn and also its relative Staircase Falls have been formally named.) It appears in winter and also early springtime, fed by snowmelt off the El Capitan hill. Tumbling down in 2 side-by-side streams, it drops virtually 1,600 feet– simply under 3 times the elevation of the Washington Monolith– onto outstanding angled rocks, kicking up a haze before dropping one more 500 feet to the ground.
Horsetail Autumn ends up being much more stunning on clear days in mid- to late February, when the setting sunlight strikes it ideal and also briefly transforms it into a beautiful orange “firefall.” Photographers flock to Yosemite to break pictures of this effect, notoriously first caught in color photos shot by Galen Rowell in 1973.
The Horsetail Loss sensation is a much safer spectacle than its older namesake, which was a prominent Yosemite traveler attraction for almost a century. Once upon a time in the park, a “fire fall” suggested real fire, actually diminishing a high cliff. This nighttime show was held off and on over the years, starting in 1872. The routine changed rather, however basically it included a big fire being constructed at Glacier Factor, high above Yosemite Valley, and the embers being gradually pressed over the cliff while visitors watched from listed below.
Not surprisingly, the spectacle had its critics. Problems consisted of the noticeable fire threat, together with crowds running over the meadows, as well as the National forest Service officially stopped the burning fire drops in 1968.
