Re: Horsetail Falls

Anyone planning on going there this month to see if they can get a photo of it? (where it looks like lava coming down when the sun hits it)... i hope someone on this site has info as to the days it will happen as i'd like to be there. i've done this a number of years ago and got a pretty good photo once, but i'd love to do it again (this time with a good camera lol).

typically it is between the 2nd & 3rd weeks in Feb... but ya just never know exactly what days.

Michael Frye did extensive research and says the 16th through 24th. Google to find his blog.

One never knows that exact dates beforehand because it's very dependent on the weather. No clouds can be blocking the sun from lighting up Horsetail Fall (even clouds way off in the horizon) at the right moment.

Often in February the clouds do, even on days that appear to be mostly cloud free.
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I'm planning to be there later this week. Anyone know if the water is currently flowing?

Yes it's flowing.

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Not much today.

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hotrod4x5

Not much today.

Probably because it was too cold today and a lot of its water had frozen over. A warming spell would help increase the water's flow.

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It's supposed to warm up this weekend, and I'll be up there with several friends hoping for a decent shot. I was up last Friday, right after it snowed, and it was flowing pretty well. During the past two years, I've never been able to actually SEE the falls from the valley floor, but on Friday, you could seem them very easily from just beyond the El Cap picnic area. My only fear now is that everything will melt off and mot much will be left flowing. I guess we'll find out in a couple of days. Here's my shot from last year without much flow:

Horsetail Falls, 2012



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2013 05:09PM by MtSacProf.

v kewl

Tanks

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Not flowing at all today or yesterday. Weekend might be better as it warms up.

It wasn't flowing on Tuesday evening (frozen solid) but Wednesday was warmer and a very small stream of water was going over the fall.

Too bad there wasn't more water going over the brink on Tuesday & Wednesday since the lighting was perfect.

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I was there at the Southside Drive location Wednesday and didn't see much. So the problem was too little water? We could see some water going over the falls and some mist but I guess there was too little water. I have no experience to judge what's a little or a lot of water in that falls.

Yes, the problem has been very little water flowing, and even the amount of water that was flowing was just dripping down along the frozen ice (basically no spray or mist at all).

Simply put, Horsetail Fall has been one giant icicle this past several days. But with the weather warming up, the ice will start melting at a faster rate (hopefully).
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Precipitation is in the forecast for next Tues, & possibly Wed.

If one likes watching paint dry, here's an HD video I took of El Capitan and Horsetail fall while the exquisite light turned nicely orange-red before fading out.

The light was there, unfortunately most of the water wasn't. There was a small sliver of water going over the fall clinging in most part to the icy wall of El Capitan with only a very small free fall near the top.

Great light + almost no water = equal boring video. (But I shot it, so I decided to post it.) Enjoy:

I tried to capture it last night, but like you said, it was barely flowing. The light was great and if there had been water, it would have been really nice. I will post the shot I got when I finish downloading them all.

It wasn't a total loss though...

Great light on Horsetail Fall = Great light on Sentinel Rock.

Even without much flow, the various colors are still fascinating.

Could this be Horsetail Falls? Photo taken from Sentinel Dome on Wednesday 02/13/13 around 5:30 pm.

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KatyAnderson
Could this be Horsetail Falls? Photo taken from Sentinel Dome on Wednesday 02/13/13 around 5:30 pm.

Looks like it to me, great job. I've wondered what the view would be like from there. Did you camp on the dome, or hike back out?

Camped on Sentinel Dome.

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KatyAnderson
Camped on Sentinel Dome.

Which is illegal, right?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/17/2013 12:33PM by hotrod4x5.

Perfectly legal in winter.

Discussed my plans in detail with the ranger at Badger Pass when I got my wilderness permit. Only concern was human waste disposal, but as there was a vault toilet at the Sentinel Dome parking area, I used that.

How far is the walk from Badger Pass parking to the trailhead for Sentinel?

It is about 9 or 10 miles skiing along Glacier Point road from Badger Pass to the area that in the summer is the parking for Sentinel Dome. Then it is a mile or so hike or ski from there up to the top of Sentinel Dome.

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KatyAnderson
It is about 9 or 10 miles skiing along Glacier Point road from Badger Pass to the area that in the summer is the parking for Sentinel Dome. Then it is a mile or so hike or ski from there up to the top of Sentinel Dome.

Oh wow, I thought it was 10 miles all the way down to GP.

Nice. I've gotta do that sometime. Well, time for some minor packing for tomorrow. Will try to get in a couple of hikes to go along with Da Show. If it's too crowded, I might skip it and spend quality time elsewhere.

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KatyAnderson
Camped on Sentinel Dome.

If you did that Sat. night... then it twas your twinkiling lights I saw from afar.

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Last year I was able to get a spot in the famed picnic area at 4:30-ish, but that was on a Tues or Wed. I might decide to head out there tomorrow - probably need to be a little more punctual for a Sunday. Particularly on a 3-day weekend. Not sure whether I wanna try out a location from Southside Drive. Who has had experience from those spots?

My wife and I were at the base of El Cap Saturday night. The light was amazing but the water was negligible (at least from our angle). I suggested a couple of times that we move to a more obtuse angle but she was happy (and that's more important than taking a picture).Horsetail Falls (without the water)

Here's the best shot I got of Horsetail Fall this year. Not a whole lot of water (even less than last year).


It was taken on Sunday evening, Feb. 17th around 5:45 PM:

Happily, there apear to be no other landmarks in the park that
make reference to a horse's anatomy.