Every year for about two weeks in February an incredibly beautiful natural phenomenon occurs in Yosemite National Park.
In certain conditions, a small waterfall on the eastern edge of the El Capitan mountain, called Horsetail Fall glows bright orange as it reflects the light of the setting sun. As a result, it looks like there is lava flowing down between the snow, known as a ‘firefall’.
According to Matador Network, ‘there need to be clear skies and enough snow to allow water to flow’ for the visual display to take place.
This year, the firefall will be visible from 12 to 28 February and the best time being to view the spectacle is predicted to be between 5:28 and 5:40 PM on 22 February. No permit or prior reservation is needed to see Horsetail Fall, but the National Park Service will have ‘daily crowd restrictions from 14 February 14 to 27 February between 12pm and 7pm.’
Also read: 10 year-old girl climbs El Capitan
To prevent unwanted traffic congestion and parking issues, the National Park Service has said on its website that visitors will need to park at the Yosemite Falls parking lot and walk 2.4km to a special viewing area. However, vehicles displaying a disability placard will be allowed to drive to the El Capitan Picnic Area and park there.
Photographers and others have been encouraged to bring a ‘real camera’ rather than a smartphone if they’d like to capture images of what Travel and Leisure describe as one of ‘a few natural phenomena that every person should see in their lifetime’ along with a solar eclipse and the northern lights.
Image credit: Twitter/ @RidgePointGear
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