Yose(meet)me in Yosemite
Checking off the bucket list and going on an adventure.
Hi friends!
So this post is going to be a little different than my usual content.
I know here at Small Town Big Closet, I focus mainly on fashion and style but another one of my great passions in life is travel and this is my first trip in a year and a half so I just had to share!
Please forgive me for how long this is, I just had so much I wanted to talk about! But if you get bored of me talking, feel free to just scroll through the fun pictures.
Attempt one: we were just starting to see some color when the clouds came to block our view.
Last week I had the extreme fortune of going to Yosemite National Park to view the firefalls.
It is something that has been on my bucket list for years and and every year I put it off saying I’ll go next time. Well, I finally decided enough is enough and I wasn’t about to let another February go by without seeing it.
For anyone who isn’t familiar with what firefalls is, I’ll give a quick explanation!
Firefalls is an event in Yosemite that happens once a year during the last two weeks of February. Horsetail falls flows off the side of the cliff of El Capitan and, in the winter, the angle of the sunlight hits the falls just right for about 10-15 minutes during sunset and lights up the water as if it’s on fire.
So this year I checked flights, frantically bought park reservations, and my dad and I packed up our stuff and off we went. This was my first trip anywhere in a year and a half and, despite a little bit of anxiety, delayed and cancelled flights, and Covid craziness, we made it in one piece and began our adventure.
We are both into photography so this was a great trip to see something once-in-a-lifetime. We had three shots to view the firefalls and we weren’t going to waste even one of them.
We got to our spots in the early afternoon and waited until it was time. Despite the cold, the long hours, and the lack of comfortable seating, it was a great time to chat and get to know the people around us.
Attempt two: During our second time, it lit up in a beautiful orange color but we were at the wrong angle.
This photo is extra special to me. The first two days we say glimpses of what firefalls is but either didn’t get full sunlight during the peak or had the angle slightly wrong so we didn’t get that full stream of water. To see the falls light up, you need a combination of direct sunlight, the correct angle of the sun (which only happens the last two weeks of February), and enough water flow during the winter.
This was our last full day in Yosemite and our last chance to see the firefalls. It was cloudy most of the day and I wasn’t sure we would see anything. In fact, the parking lot was much emptier when we arrived that day compared to the last as I think many people thought we wouldn’t see it that day. By happenstance, we met another friend photographer and ran into some friends we had made the day before so we all trekked to what is now our secret spot and hung out and talked during the day, periodically checking for clouds and water flow. When the time got closer the sun was completely out and we started getting ready to shoot. Then, about 10 minutes before it was predicted to start, a haze of clouds covered the sun and I started losing hope we would see it.
5:20 came and the haze was still covering the sun.
5:30 and nothing on the cliff had lit up yet.
5:40 came and I thought we wouldn’t see it but we had all decided to stay until 6:00 just in case.
Then, we saw a touch of color at the bottom of the falls and, in what seemed like seconds, the light shop up the falls and lit it up as thought lava truly was flowing form the side of the cliff. it was absolutely breathtaking and everyone whooped and hollered as the epitome of firefalls was displayed before us.
I really hadn’t fully understood the term “firefalls” until that moment and it made all the hours in the cold and snow worth it in a few moments. It lasted a good 15 minutes where all of us were snapping photos and pausing to enjoy the moment.
The people we met, the friends we made
Left to right: Dont Bui, Michelle Bui, myself, my dad, and Chuck.
Besides the spectacular views, my favorite thing about this trip was the people we met along the way.
On our second day, our spot was in a rather crowded area and everyone was chatting together, walking around, showing each other the photos they’ve taken (a sort of bragging rights thing I think), and sharing tips and tricks. We met most of our “crew” there and happened to run into many of them by accident in other random places and times. It was amazing because we had met Dont and Michelle the day before and run into them that sunrise by accident and then my dad was shocked to run into them during a bathroom break when he left our secret spot and then invited them to come with. Aimee we met with Michelle and Dont and even ran into her by accident at our hotel. Chuck had been standing behind us the day before without us even knowing. For thousands of people being in the park at the same time, a few of us seemed to find each other no matter what.
I absolutely love it. We are all strangers to each other. We come from different backgrounds, countries of origins, careers, ages, and experiences and yet, we all have one special thing in common and that is: we want to see and photograph the firefalls. We don’t really know anything else about each other except this, might not have anything else in common except this, yet we still bond, laugh together, and make friendships when life might have never let our paths cross otherwise. We had met people and made connections each day of the trip and it felt like, by the end, I was leaving dear friends.
The people we met and will keep in contact with, is perhaps my most precious memory of the trip.
Other things we did in Yosemite!
Astrophotography
Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls
Tunnel View
The drive and the Merced Barn
What I wore in Yosemite.
I guess we’ll add a little bit of “fashion” here. These are my ootd’s and, while not stylish, did keep me warm in the cold!
If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me! I hope you enjoyed seeing some fun photos from our trip and I will see you next week with a new post!