I just got back after spending two weeks shooting some fairly heavy snow storms in Yosemite. I hope to have a blog post at some point in the next couple of weeks, but in the mean time, I wanted to give an update on the Horsetail situation for 2019.
As most of you are aware by now, the best color on the Horsetail Falls generally happens during the last two weeks of February. For 2019, we have goods news, and bad news…
The good news is that we have had near record amounts of snow come down in early February and there is a TON of snow sitting above Horsetail, ready to melt and come down in a big way. On top of that, the NPS has decided to ditch the permit parking idea this year. I’m not sure if this decision was based on how things went last year, but I was very relived to see that the park service has ditched the idea for this year. While there will be no shortage of moisture this year above the falls, the two challenges will be to keep the temperature high enough in the upper elevations to make sure the fall is flowing steadily, and the problem of needing a clear sky out to the west. If temps stay up and the skies stay clear, look for one of the best Firefall effects in years.
The bad news is that between the current snow walls lining the roads throughout the park and the massive influx of photographers, there literally is no place to park this year. (The wide shot above was taken in 2017. That particular field was under 3 feet of snow last Sunday.) To make sure park guests understand the situation, large digital boards have been set up on both the North and South side drives which state that stopping or parking in an unapproved area (anywhere that you will impeded traffic) will result in a $280 fine.
If you are planning a trip up this year, be sure to plan ahead for traffic jams and large numbers of photographers clogging the roadways. There are a handful of pullout areas, but most photographers when I was there were parking at the Lodge and walking on the North side or at Swinging Bridge on the South side. The typical walk on either side looked to be about 1-2 miles and the North side walk looked much longer than the South. I would suggest leaving plenty of time to park and hoof it. You might also need to leave some time for traffic as the backup coming into the Yosemite Lodge parking area will be substantial for the next couple of weeks.
If that weren’t enough, more snow showers are in the forecast, so be sure to carry tire chains or cables this year…just in case. Depending on the weather, the highway patrol might turn you around if you try to sneak in without chains.
Another tip would be to take highway 140 instead of 41 as 41 almost always closes in heavy snowstorms before highway 140. Last week, BOTH of them were closed at different times, so be sure to check the Yosemite website and call the Yosemite road update line at 209/372-0200 before heading up.
If you want more info on how, when and where to shoot Horsetail during the next couple of weeks, feel free to check out my earlier post at: http://theresonantlandscape.com/looking-fire-horsetail-fall/
If you have any other questions or comments, please feel free to post them below! Thanks for reading!