One of the most fabulous things about living in Fresno is that we are literally an hour from the southern gate to Yosemite National Park. It’s an easy drive and there is even a local shuttle service that will take you there and back 9 months out of the year. Bing.com featured Bridalveil Falls today as the cover page image in honor of the park’s 132nd anniversary.
There are thousands of waterfalls in Yosemite National Park, but perhaps none are as well known as Bridalveil Fall. First things first: Don’t call it ‘falls’ because then someone may think you were in Utah where another waterfall bears the surprisingly similar name, Bridal Veil Falls. Bridalveil, as seen in the photo, is often the first waterfall visitors to Yosemite encounter. It plunges 617 feet and flows year-round, fed with water from Ostrander Lake nearly 10 miles away. When the flow is light, brisk winds blow the water sideways. That’s why the Ahwahneechee Native Americans, who have lived in the Yosemite Valley for centuries, traditionally called the waterfall Pohono, or ‘Spirit of the Puffing Wind.’
When Yosemite was made a national park on this date in 1890, it not only preserved this jewel of the Sierra Nevada from being turned over to sheep grazing. It was also pivotal to the continued idea of protecting natural areas for the future. Scottish American environmentalist John Muir is credited with convincing President Benjamin Harrison to preserve the Yosemite Valley, and that success kicked off a string of conservation efforts that would eventually lead to the creation of the National Park System. Today, Yosemite’s pristine wilderness is internationally known for mountains, granite cliffs, giant sequoia groves, and, of course, waterfalls.
Bing homepage article on Oct 1, 2022
Here are some photos I took on my last serious hiking trip…
