Lava in Yosemite??

While I’ve never heard of an active volcano in Yosemite National Park, for a few days each February, you can catch a glimpse of a lava-like flow at Yosemite’s Horsetail Fall.

Horsetail Fall is spectacular enough on most winter or early spring days, when the seasonal waterfall makes a more than 2,000-foot drop down the east side of El Capitan. But on certain days in mid-February, the sun sets at a particular angle that illuminates the waterfall for a few minutes in stunning reds, oranges, and yellows, and turning it into something called a “firefall,” when you’d swear you were witnessing a river of hot lava flowing down the sheer cliff face. Hundreds of visitors come each year with cameras in hand, hoping to catch the perfect shot.

photo by Steve Corey via Flickr.com

A couple of weeks ago while looking out my office window, I noticed a similar phenomenon when a patch of sunlight hit a bend in the lane to my farm. I fantasized that if I were to stand in that gorgeous patch of glowing light, I would somehow be transported to other-worldly realms.

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