When I had originally envisioned our trip to Yosemite in February, the main objective was to hike and snow camp at Dewey Point. It was a coincidence that Firefall would be happening at the same time. While I had read about the phenomenon and seen all the amazing photos online, I had never attempted to make the journey to go see it. Now we had the perfect opportunity to do both.
To avoid needing a reservation, we decided to drive into the park on the Thursday before Presidents’ Day, which also allowed us to take advantage of the long weekend. We left San Francisco in the early afternoon, managed to avoid most of the traffic, and arrived in Yosemite around 6:00 P.M. That night we slept in one of the unheated tented cabins in Curry Village—brrr, was it cold. Good thing we had all our snow camping gear. Out came the sleeping bag, down pants and thermals.
Friday morning turned out to be a pretty sunny, which I hoped was a good sign for Firefall viewing conditions later on. After breakfast, we hiked the Mirror Lake loop trail. Most people were walking the road to the lake, but we chose to take the trail, which meanders through the woods and is much more scenic. When we reached Tenaya Creek Bridge we caught sight of a bobcat, the same one we had seen earlier at the start of the hike. It seemed oblivious to us as we watched it amble down the road before it eventually headed for the trees.
The trail to the lake wasn’t strenuous, with only one small incline and a few icy sections where I had to grab on to Chris, who had remembered to bring his microspikes. When we reached the eastern bank of Mirror Lake, we stopped to take pictures and soak in the views.
Half Dome loomed above us and continued to be our companion as we continued on the back half of the trail. We encountered only one other couple as we approached another bridge that spanned the gushing waters of Tenaya Creek. The remainder of the trail returning to Mirror Lake was pretty flat. We stopped again to take photos from the other side before heading back via the service road this time.
It was 2:00 P.M. when we returned to our tent cabin. Time to ready ourselves for Firefall! We changed into warmer clothes in anticipation of standing outside, got in the car and headed towards Yosemite Lodge, where we easily found parking. Following the crowds we walked along the closed section of Northside Drive, before eventually reaching the first prime viewing area which was a small clearing that afforded lateral views of El Capitan and Horsetail Falls. It was a little after 3:00 (I thought we were early), but clearly lots of people had been hanging around much longer. We stood for more than 2 hours, watching the color of the falls change as the sun slowly receded. Every now and then a plume of mist would emerge and amplify the light.
When the sun finally set, we waited with bated breath for the magic to happen but sadly it was not to be. The falls were a thin line of pink, still beautiful, but not the bright orange or red that gave the spectacle its eponymous name. Ironically, I thought the changes in color leading up to the event where more vivid and interesting. We waited until we were pretty sure the sun was down and there was no chance of missing a sudden splash of color before deciding to leave.
Rather than follow the crowds on the road, we headed back towards Yosemite Lodge on the Valley Loop Trail. Going off the beaten path allowed us to capture Half Dome and Sentinel Rock in the waning light. It was so beautiful.
We had dinner at the Mountain Room Lounge where Chris drank an appropriately named Firefall Red and I had an old-fashioned.
Fortunately, we had one more chance to see Firefall on Sunday after our snow camping excursion. The weather was supposed to continue to improve so my fingers were crossed that we’d have better luck in a few days.
Sunday came. We finished our camping trip and drove back into the valley. Our idea was to go directly to Yosemite Lodge, same as last time, and grab lunch. I completely underestimated how crazy it would be. It was only 2:00 P.M. and already the lots were completely full, cars circling like vultures hoping for a space to open up. After going around in circles we decided to just park Curry Village, eat there, and then take the shuttle. It was just after 3:00 when we finally got in the long line for the shuttle. Our consolation was that it grew even longer while we were waiting and pretty soon wound around the parking lot.
We were concerned that Firefall would come and go and we’d still be waiting in line, but a bus pulled up around 4:20 P.M. and the two of just barely managed to squeeze ourselves in. As luck would further have it, the shuttle went directly to the El Capitan picnic area. We disembarked, walked a few feet, and found a spot next to some photographers with serious gear and waited for the show to begin. Around 5:36 the sun started to set and we could see the face of El Capitan slowly turn a bright orange. It then faded within minutes but soon enough, around 5:40, the light on the rock intensified and we watched the falls and surrounding granite deepen from pink to orange. A chorus of cheers erupted from the crowd. After two minutes, as the sun continued to fall below the horizon, the colors began to diminish and the show was over. Now I understand why people come here year after year. It was truly magical to see.
Coda
Without even intending for it to be so, we got to see Firefall twice over the weekend and from two different vantage points. It’s hard to say if one or the other is better, they’re just different. I liked seeing it from the side where the falls made it look like lava streaming down El Capitan. The frontal view, however, allowed us to see a large portion of the rock face illuminated which better showcased the changing colors.
I’m already thinking about next year.
Additional Info
Not sure how much the rules will change from year to year, but based on our experience, I’m guessing this will be the general framework for seeing Firefall next year (2024):
- To avoid needing a reservation, try to enter the park between Monday and Thursday, or if you must enter on between Friday and Sunday, staying at any of the lodging options in the park automatically counts as a reservation (meaning no separate reservation required).
- During the weekend, parking at the lots near Yosemite Lodge fill up very quickly. I would advise getting there no later than 2:00 P.M. It looked like lots of people had arrived even earlier and were just camping out – lounge chairs, drinks, picnic baskets, etc. We even saw a few groups tailgating in the parking lot.
- From Yosemite Lodge it’s about a 1.5-mile walk to the El Capitan picnic area. The National Park Service turns one lane of Northside Drive into a pedestrian walkway.
- We took the shuttle service and it worked out well (all things considered). The lines were crazy long, but it moved reasonably fast.
Info provided by the National Park Service:
