Bridalveil Falls: Misty Cliffs
When a visitor to Yosemite National Park arrives from the south one of the first major landmarks seen is that of the Bridalveil Falls in a gorgeous vista of the cliffs, valley and big blue sky. The Falls rival the Yosemite Falls for the place of the Yosemite National Park Icon as visitors find the Bridalveil both interesting and unusual.
The falls are 620 feet in height and it does flow year round although the flow reduces greatly in volume after the peak of spring when nearly all the snow from the previous winter has melted away. Bridalveil Fall is tucked away in a hanging valley. When the Merced glacier came through thousands of years ago and carved out the cliff face a smaller tributary glacier grew out of the top of the larger glacier and carved out the side valley.
Visitors especially enjoy hiking down the trail that takes them to the base of the falls in peak flow season. During this time the waterfall is at it’s peak volume from snow melt in early spring. It plunges over the side of the cliff and creates a large amount of mist. There is sometimes so much mist that from a distance the thick forest around the waterfall appears to be on fire, but its not. In fact just the opposite is true the whole area is being covered in a fine layer of water. When hikers reach the base of the falls they often end up surrounded by the mists and they can’t see to the top of the falls when they look up. It’s been said that there are rainbows in every direction as a result of the sunlight being prismed through the small water particles. It is advised that hikers bring along a poncho during the spring season because they will get wet.
In the late summer after the waterfall’s volume is much smaller some hikers enjoy swimming in the plunge pool at the base of the falls. Although this can be very dangerous as the force of the waterfall from over 600 feet can pull swimmers under.
Also during the summer the waterfall begins to take on the qualities implied in the Ahwahneechee Indian name originally given to the falls, Pohono, which means ‘Spirit of the Puffing Wind.” The winds in the area are very strong and have a tendency to create sharp updrafts against the cliffs walls. Sometimes the wind is so strong that it causes the waterfall to move sideways along the cliff, on occasion the water doesn’t even make it to its intended spot on the ground, but it instead blown off into the valley in the form of water spray. The wind can even blow the mist back up over the cliff’s edge and make the waterfall appear to stop flowing.
The most common type of vegetation in the park and the area of the falls is the conifer tree, including Douglas Firs, Pines, Spruces, and the park is also home to a few groves of the Giant Red Sequoia tree.