Re: How's Yosemite Falls looking these days?

With the snow melting so fast I was wondering how YFs will be the last week in May??

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losthillsguy
With the snow melting so fast I was wondering how YFs will be the last week in May??

I would expect it to be very good.

I'm surprised the Yosemite Association has 3 webcams pointed at Half Dome, and none at Yosemite Falls. You'd think one or two of Half Dome would be enough. Maybe the one that's broken (on Sentinel Dome) can be repositioned to show Yosemite Falls if/when it is repaired.

Here's a few days ago, I suspect it will hold up at least for a while:
(upper)

(lower)

The whole thing:


I've seen it larger, but it's pretty impressive. I don't know how the snowpack is at the top, had wanted to go up but ran short on time, and just couldn't convince myself it was worth hurrying up that trail in the hot weather.

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Gary
Yosemite Photo Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/roberthouse/yo

Great photos, thanks for posting. It should still be like that for a couple more weeks at the very least, right? We will be there June 3 and 4.

You can of course see the "bathtub ring" that indicates about the maximum reach of the water.

I was there in late June 2006 (an exceptional snow year) where the water levels were so high that there was a huge cone that was about 50% wider than those photos reference in this thread. Tioga Road was't open until about June 20.

An unscientific comparison of the last 4 years in mid to late May (not all at exactly the same angle):


While 2006 looks the healthiest by a small margin, note that both the 2008 and 2009 photos were taken after or during some unseasonably hot May weather, and in fact the 2008 one had a fairly heavy snowfall just a week or so before the hot spell. 2007 was the only year we didn't find a nice "snow cap" on top of Half Dome for our mid-May trip. The 2006 one was during 'normal' weather and with no very recent snowfalls, so the healthy size is probably more deeply rooted than the rest.

I don't have a photo from May 2005, and one from April wouldn't be a fair comparison, but we did a family trip to the valley in late July-early August 2005, and Yosemite falls still had a pretty decent flow.

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Gary
Yosemite Photo Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/roberthouse/yo



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2009 12:53PM by Sierrafan.

Thanks for the comparison. It looks like 2009 has somewhat of a smaller flow than 2008. We were there on May 22, 2008, and this is what the falls looked like that day (although it was quite windy that day and that made the spray blow around a lot).

How does Yosemite Falls look....REAL REAL BIG

We got up close and personal with it yesterday, as we viewed it from the look-out area off the top of Yosemite Falls trail.

How does BlueJay Creek look: Like the biggest baddest river in the world -- (as observed from the log above with shakey legs)

bill-e-g has some awesome shots looking down the falls....(and of the creek, too)






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2009 10:03PM by Bee.

I'm pretty sure much of the "toilet bowl" ring is mainly due to wind spray. More water doesn't always translate into wider falls.

But the falls will be running great for some time still. Hoffman still has alot o snow on it which translates
into Yosemite Creek pretty much. If you want to see the most volume then wait until later in the day...

Yosemite Creek on Saturday.

If you look closely in the center off to the left a bit you can't see a human being sitting at the edge of the creek.

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Old Dude



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2009 06:06PM by mrcondron.

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mrcondron
If you look closely in the center off to the left a bit you can see a human being sitting at the edge of the creek.

How long do you want them to look?

Error. Never mind.

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Old Dude

If you look closely in the center of the picture you can see a human being crossing a creek on a log.

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Old Dude

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mrcondron
If you look closely in the center of the picture you can see a human being crossing a creek on a log.

Is that a Bozo Sapien?

All seriousness aside, where did this trip take you? It appears that you went up to Yosemite Falls then over to El Cap?? Or at least the chicken went to El Cap (another thread).

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

Get Serious Hot Diggity Dog,
We went down Yosemite Creek and over to Eagle Peak. Camped.
Next day over to Yosemite Falls... and then up back ot Yosemite Creek Trailhead.

El Cap is saved for another day. Not sure how to get there although there seemed to be some sort of trail remnant.

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bill-e-g
Get Serious Hot Diggity Dog,
We went down Yosemite Creek and over to Eagle Peak. Camped.
Next day over to Yosemite Falls... and then up back ot Yosemite Creek Trailhead.

Back via the Lehamite Creek?
?Snow cones made along Tioga Pass?

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

So if you fell into that creek you would go over the falls, right?

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Bob Weaver
So if you fell into that creek you would go over the falls, right?

No... that picture is a good 3 miles above the falls...
I won't go into any macabre details... but there are logjams way before the falls too..

Bob,
That picture was taken several miles upstream from the falls but it's conceivable you could get carried down to the falls even from where the picture was taken. There are quite a few places where you could extricate yourself from the creek if your fingers and arms still worked.(That is snowmelt) If you get in the creek anywhere near the falls now you would probably go over. There is a point near the falls where if you get in the water you WILL go over.

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Old Dude

How does a Bee get to the other side of the creek?

(Bluejay Creek .. which dumps into Yosemite Creek)

Yikes! Has anyone ever gone over Yosemite Falls? I read about some poor woman who took a dip in the Emerald Pool and went over Vernal Falls (to her death of course). I've read "Over the Edge..." but not "Off the Wall..." yet.

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Bob Weaver
Yikes! Has anyone ever gone over Yosemite Falls?

http://cbs5.com/local/yosemite.falls.suicide.2.957744.html
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=803667&tn=0&mr=0
http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/4009757.php?
http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Incidents&id=4423
http://www.mymotherlode.com/news/local/news_detail.php?ID=140209

Besides this one, I heard that the book Death in Yosemite includes several deaths over Yosemite Falls.

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Bob Weaver
Yikes! Has anyone ever gone over Yosemite Falls? I read about some poor woman who took a dip in the Emerald Pool and went over Vernal Falls (to her death of course). I've read "Over the Edge..." but not "Off the Wall..." yet.

Guys,

SHHHHHH----Stop with the negative vibes!! I'm trying to cross the log (as pictured) and yer disturbing my serenity (Dear God, please watch out for my puppy if I should....NOT!!!!!!)

It was a glorious experience....all 5 or so creek crossings... I kid you not -- after a while, the "high" that you get after a "successful x-ing" is addictive.






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2009 10:11PM by Bee.

OK sorry. It's better to know of any dangers and be prepared.

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Bob Weaver
OK sorry. It's better to know of any dangers and be prepared.

Dangers= When you sign up for your Wilderness Permit, the Ranger will usually mention which creeks are impassible at the time, (not taking into consideration the fair amount of insanity that permeates myself and those I choose to hang out with...)

Preparation= A religious icon of some sort hung around one's neck might be helpful....!!


All kidding aside, the creek conditions and the level of danger is usually very well expressed by the rangers if you ask ahead of time. Even when one chooses to ignore such warnings, it's helpful to bring along a Sacrificial Goat to test all waterways for you.

Bill-e-g has the ability to cross high water on the narrowest of logs, the bouncier the better, under the worst conditions.

Here's a short story made long. He, his wife, and I needed to cross the Lyell Fork in the rain, a roaring torrent that would have taken you to downtown Merced. Billy is across this barkless, wet slippery log spanning the fork when his wife and arrive a few minutes after him. We look at the water, the log, the great campsites across the fork, and vacillate.
Billy comes back across, takes his wife's pack across, comes back and takes my pack and waits for us to cross. We decline. He has to return the packs to our side so we can find someplace to camp on the crummy side of the fork. He made twelve crossings on that log in about 10 minutes and loved every minute of it. The next morning we found a less death defying pair of logs side by side a few hundred yards upstream. We all survived.

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Old Dude

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mrcondron
Bill-e-g has the ability to cross high water on the narrowest of logs, the bouncier the better, under the worst conditions.

Here's a short story made long. He, his wife, and I needed to cross the Lyell Fork in the rain, a roaring torrent that would have taken you to downtown Merced. Billy is across this barkless, wet slippery log spanning the fork when his wife and arrive a few minutes after him. We look at the water, the log, the great campsites across the fork, and vacillate.
Billy comes back across, takes his wife's pack across, comes back and takes my pack and waits for us to cross. We decline. He has to return the packs to our side so we can find someplace to camp on the crummy side of the fork. He made twelve crossings on that log in about 10 minutes and loved every minute of it. The next morning we found a less death defying pair of logs side by side a few hundred yards upstream. We all survived.

Note to Dale: Intense sensation of déjà vu upon reading the above narration. (Where do we find these people anyway?)

In addition, have taken a fellow from West Virginia along on a few hikes. Dave manages to fall in any rivulet wider than ~16 inches and/or deeper than ~2 inches. He doesn't even need to be trying to cross it - it just needs to be within falling distance of where he is standing. (I wish that I could say that I am exaggerating here.)

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szalkowski

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mrcondron
Bill-e-g has the ability to cross high water on the narrowest of logs, the bouncier the better, under the worst conditions.

Here's a short story made long. He, his wife, and I needed to cross the Lyell Fork in the rain, a roaring torrent that would have taken you to downtown Merced. Billy is across this barkless, wet slippery log spanning the fork when his wife and arrive a few minutes after him. We look at the water, the log, the great campsites across the fork, and vacillate.
Billy comes back across, takes his wife's pack across, comes back and takes my pack and waits for us to cross. We decline. He has to return the packs to our side so we can find someplace to camp on the crummy side of the fork. He made twelve crossings on that log in about 10 minutes and loved every minute of it. The next morning we found a less death defying pair of logs side by side a few hundred yards upstream. We all survived.

Note to Dale: Intense sensation of déjà vu upon reading the above narration. (Where do we find these people anyway?)

In addition, have taken a fellow from West Virginia along on a few hikes. Dave manages to fall in any rivulet wider than ~16 inches and/or deeper than ~2 inches. He doesn't even need to be trying to cross it - it just needs to be within falling distance of where he is standing. (I wish that I could say that I am exaggerating here.)

Some more interesting details on that crossing. On that trip we went over Red Peak Pass and then over to Post Peak Pass & Isberg Pass before coming back the high trail
down to Merced Lake and back over to Mono Meadow Trailhead. On the way to Ottoway we ran across 3 people that said they got stymied at Lyell fork. We had never
been on that trail so I poo poo'd it and just said "we'll see when we get there". It turns out that I later learned that these 3 people did the High Sierra Route from Kings Canyon!
I cannot believe that they didn't take the time to look for log crossings to make their way across when they did ALL that xcountry already! I even sent the guy an email
about meeting them. He has an account of the trip on the web. I can find it if anyone is interested. His words about the Lyell Fork Crossing:
"A certain death trap for anyone foolish enough to stick as much as a toe into it".
I spent probably an hour or so looking for a safer log upstream maybe 3/4 miles. It did involve some boulder hopping but that's part of the fun!
Here's the fork when we hit it on July 26, 2006:

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mrcondron
Bill-e-g has the ability to cross high water on the narrowest of logs, the bouncier the better, under the worst conditions.

Here's a short story made long. He, his wife, and I needed to cross the Lyell Fork in the rain, a roaring torrent that would have taken you to downtown Merced. Billy is across this barkless, wet slippery log spanning the fork when his wife and arrive a few minutes after him. We look at the water, the log, the great campsites across the fork, and vacillate.
Billy comes back across, takes his wife's pack across, comes back and takes my pack and waits for us to cross. We decline. He has to return the packs to our side so we can find someplace to camp on the crummy side of the fork. He made twelve crossings on that log in about 10 minutes and loved every minute of it. The next morning we found a less death defying pair of logs side by side a few hundred yards upstream. We all survived.

For those who have never crossed a log like that it is a unique experience carrying a 40-lb backpack. That extra weight high on your body throws off your normal balancing instincts so it is very easy to fall off if one is not accustomed to it. On the trail all one has to do is move their foot to the side to regain balance. On the log there is no side to move your foot to. I have a very healthy respect for any log crossing, no matter how tame it may appear at first glance.

Jim

Jim,
Everyone in my circle certainly has a high level respect for them. Dale is from hockey country and could probably hop across on one foot. He's not referred to as "Goat" because of his smell but rather his agility.

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Old Dude

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mrcondron
Jim,
Everyone in my circle certainly has a high level respect for them. Dale is from hockey country and could probably hop across on one foot. He's not referred to as "Goat" because of his smell but rather his agility.

The Carolina Hurricanes could use him on defense tonight.

Jim

Easy does it big fella. You're talking to Sharks fans.

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Old Dude

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mrcondron
Easy does it big fella. You're talking to Sharks fans.

Mike,

Sorry about that. I'll be joining you very shortly in the loss column. The way Pittsburg is playing the Detroit fans better not get too comfortable.

Jim

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Bob Weaver
OK sorry. It's better to know of any dangers and be prepared.

Not sure why you'd get flak for warning people of real, not imagined dangers they may not be aware of. The Death in Yosemite book is full of accounts of people doing things that they thought were fairly innocuous...crossing above a waterfall, posing for photos on a rock in the river, even just filling a water bottle.

Last year I saw a family of 4 crossing the late-March roaring Merced on a log; the kids were about 8-12 in range. I doubt that they realized that a slip would be basically an instant death sentence. People always figure they'll grab onto a branch, log, or rock, but often the current is so strong that it's impossible, or they're over the falls before they even realize what happened. Even two men may have a tough time pulling someone free of a snag in the current, that is, if they find them at all.

Most teenagers, at one point, think they're indestructible, like to show off, and can be expected to take risks, and most survive so they can develop good judgment as they get older...but only due to luck. But someone with a family like the above should at least be aware of what risk they're putting their kids (and even if they fall in themselves, what it will do to the family), so it's good that people know of what's happened to people just like them. I can't even imagine the feeling of crossing a river when it's only due to choice or 'something fun', and seeing one of them go in, knowing that's most likely the end, just instantly, from a single slip. While much of the year, crossing and falling in may be fairly benign, in spring it's not.

I was at Upper Pines taking refuge from a drenching thunderstorm when the SAR vehicles headed up to the bridges for the woman that had fallen in at Vernal Fall on May 18. Having seen the raging river, I already pretty much knew what had happened, and the outcome, which is not unusual this time of year. The SAR crew stayed at all the valley bridges for a few hours, but you could tell they had no hope of finding anything other than a body.

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Gary
Yosemite Photo Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/roberthouse/yo



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2009 08:00AM by Sierrafan.

Drive a car. You'll more likely be dead long before a backcountry hiker.

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Old Dude

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Sierrafan

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Bob Weaver
OK sorry. It's better to know of any dangers and be prepared.

Not sure why you'd get flak for warning people of real, not imagined dangers they may not be aware of. The Death in Yosemite book is full of accounts of people doing things that they thought were fairly innocuous...crossing above a waterfall, posing for photos on a rock in the river, even just filling a water bottle.

Last year I saw a family of 4 crossing the late-March roaring Merced on a log; the kids were about 8-12 in range. I doubt that they realized that a slip would be basically an instant death sentence. People always figure they'll grab onto a branch, log, or rock, but often the current is so strong that it's impossible, or they're over the falls before they even realize what happened. Even two men may have a tough time pulling someone free of a snag in the current, that is, if they find them at all.

Most teenagers, at one point, think they're indestructible, like to show off, and can be expected to take risks, and most survive so they can develop good judgment as they get older...but only due to luck. But someone with a family like the above should at least be aware of what risk they're putting their kids (and even if they fall in themselves, what it will do to the family), so it's good that people know of what's happened to people just like them. I can't even imagine the feeling of crossing a river when it's only due to choice or 'something fun', and seeing one of them go in, knowing that's most likely the end, just instantly, from a single slip. While much of the year, crossing and falling in may be fairly benign, in spring it's not.

I was at Upper Pines taking refuge from a drenching thunderstorm when the SAR vehicles headed up to the bridges for the woman that had fallen in at Vernal Fall on May 18. Having seen the raging river, I already pretty much knew what had happened, and the outcome, which is not unusual this time of year. The SAR crew stayed at all the valley bridges for a few hours, but you could tell they had no hope of finding anything other than a body.

Gary, Well put on the dangers of rivers in early spring.
I just recently joined and it is nice to see some sanity in this forum.
Is there always so much crass behavior?

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abenebbish
Gary, Well put on the dangers of rivers in early spring.
I just recently joined and it is nice to see some sanity in this forum.
Is there always so much crass behavior?

Only in the last couple of months; until then, it was a very pleasant and useful forum with lots of good information, along with a good balance of occasional good-natured kidding around (but not to the extent that it overpowered the information). But recently every thread has to be turned into a joke, have the topic change to suit someone, or destroyed with a lot of personal and irrelevant messages that are of no general interest. Sometimes a thread can remain intact for a day or two, as this one had, but then, as you've seen, it quickly deteriorates into a chat-board, and you'd better not offend certain people, watch what you post.

I don't know what happened to this thread, I just noticed Bob W. had gotten some sort of reaction to what I thought was an informative message, or possibly it was ypw's post, so I responded. Probably the warning about the river offended the person/people who this forum is all about.

I've suggested in the past that they add another board to the forum, so that members who want to talk about themselves and exchange personal banter or private jokes can do so without destroying the usefulness of this one. So far, no go, but I imagine if it continues this way, someone will start another forum and learn from the mistakes here.

A lot of folks do come to this forum knowing nothing about Yosemite, perhaps preparing for a visit, and it used to be that you could browse the message board and find all sorts of useful and interesting information, whether you were new to Yosemite or a veteran. And that's still there, but unfortunately it's now getting buried in too much junk. It's easy to block out nearly all of the personal messages with a couple of clicks, but the thread is still affected, so it doesn't work all that well. If you time your question right, you may be able to get in a day or two's worth of good replies before the thread deteriorates.

Anyway, sorry you didn't get to see the forum when it was in better shape, but there's still good info here, it's just harder to find.

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Gary
Yosemite Photo Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/roberthouse/yo



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2009 06:58PM by Sierrafan.

I wonder why so many people think national parks are playgrounds. Why do they think crossing the Merced on a log is a better experience than crossing it on a bridge? They should probably change the name of the park to Yosemite National Playground: tennis courts, three swimming pools, a golf course, a skating rink, a ski resort, a massive dining room with an idiotic bacchanal every year and who knows what else, all within the boundaries of a national park. Is Yosemite, in and of itself, so boring that all these facilities had to be built for extra activities?

Hi Bob,

I cannot answer for most of what you posted (especially when I am overcome by an outrageous need for a Rootbeer after a trip), but I can comment on the log crossing. I don't think that anyone I BP with would rebuff a bridge crossing in favor of a log; however, in order to psychologically prepare yourself for such a unique and challenging experience, one must put a positive and fulfilling spin on it. That log that I am standing on in the above picture is probably only the 2nd or 3rd crossing that I have ever done, but the faith in my friends, and the confidence in myself allowed me to overcome initial fear, and replace it with caution and fortitude.

Bob,
Get a trail map of Yosemite and compare a couple of things.
1. The area of the valley floor which contains most of the playthings you refer to with the total area of the park.
2. The miles of trail in the valley floor with the total miles of trail in the park.

I have hiked probably 95%+ of the trails in the park multiple times in both directions and maybe 10% of the trails in the valley. I hardly look at the park as a playground with toys. Dale has hiked more like 99% and God knows how much cross country. I don't think he has used any of the valley floor toys either.

As far as water crossings are concerned I have made a few that make spooky pictures but the most that would happen with a fall is to get wet and perhaps very cold with a bruise or two thrown in. The greatest fear is falling in the COLD water. I have refused only two water crossings on a log. One would have led to a fatality with a fall. I wasn't willing to test my mettle. We found a better crossing about 1/4 mile upstream. The second was last weekend where the log had a sharp pointy top surface and would have been like walking on a knife edge. Again we found a better log nearby. The edgy log would have led to only a soaking.
Personally I would rather cross on a bridge any day. We don't cross on logs to get kicks or excitement. It's just that if you want to get from A to B you have to find a way across water sometimes. It is exciting but not sought after. I don't particularly like it.
Wading across water is WAY more difficult and dangerous than crossing on a log. Last weekend we did 1/2 mile of cross country to avoid a wading crossing of Yosemite Creek.

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Old Dude

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Bee
I kid you not

Another goat pun?

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Bob Weaver
So if you fell into that creek you would go over the falls, right?

No, that's against park regulations.

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eeek

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Bob Weaver
So if you fell into that creek you would go over the falls, right?

No, that's against park regulations.

What if you were in a boat?

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bill-e-g

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eeek

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Bob Weaver
So if you fell into that creek you would go over the falls, right?

No, that's against park regulations.

What if you were in a boat?

Is boating allowed on Yosemite Creek?

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eeek

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bill-e-g

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eeek

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Bob Weaver
So if you fell into that creek you would go over the falls, right?

No, that's against park regulations.

What if you were in a boat?

Is boating allowed on Yosemite Creek?

I can put my trailboat in any lake in Yosemite besides Hetch Hetchy. I don't see why not.
Well... ok, ya.. of course I see why NOT... but...

I honestly don't know the rules on boating rivers in Yosemite.

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bill-e-g

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eeek

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Bob Weaver
So if you fell into that creek you would go over the falls, right?

No, that's against park regulations.

What if you were in a boat?

Wasn't there a Theodor (Dr. Seuss) Geisel book about that?
"The Goat in the Boat"

Yosemite Creek many moons ago:


http://yosemitephotos.net/main.php/v/yosemite/sh-Scan-070218-0005.jpg.html

If you "Goat Boat" it.. you can just stay in one spot enjoying the view:



(and we went down Yosemite Creek... and then up Yosemite Creek)
(not Le-ham-ite)
We started and stopped at Yosemite Creek Trailhead

Here's the toilet bowl ring in all it's gory:

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bill-e-g
Here's the toilet bowl ring in all it's gory:

It's not just a toilet bowl ring. It's also a climbing route:

http://www.exo.net/~pauld/climbing/ViaAqua/viaaqua.html

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y_p_w
It's not just a toilet bowl ring. It's also a climbing route:

http://www.exo.net/~pauld/climbing/ViaAqua/viaaqua.html

Interesting. I didn't know anyone climbed this route.

I wanna go back when it is "empty" and check out the "vestibule".
Pretty sure there is no danger in getting to there.

I was going over SFGate's comment section on an article about tour guides who fudge with the facts, when I read this one:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article/comments/view?f=/c/a/2009/05/24/TRGQ17KPNJ.DTL

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In 1969, my first job as a teenager was busboy and line server in the Yosemite Lodge cafeteria. I would go out to the open patio to clear tables as often as I could because I could look up at the magnificent Yosemite Falls. One morning two delightful ladies called me over and asked, "Do they turn off the falls at night?" I quietly thought to myself that people really need to get out of the cities more often.

They do turn Niagra off at night. So maybe the question was as stupid as it seemed.