| NATIONAL PARKS QUICKLINKS |
Also on Backpacker.com
Backpacker Magazine – March 2011
Right Place, Perfect Time: Frazil Ice
Witness a river of slush flow through Yosemite Valley.
Frazil ice pouring from Yosemite Falls. (Kirkendall-Spring)
-
Tags:
- California |
- Yosemite |
- Destinations |
Most Yosemite hikers get sore necks from looking up, but travel here as the valley awakens from winter, and you’ll be captivated by an ephemeral showstopper at your feet: frazil ice. Mist from Yosemite Falls freezes and reenters the creek to create an alpine Slurpee of epic proportions. The ice lava meanders through the forest with a consistency that oscillates between soup and cement. Mist also freezes to the cliff face next to the falls, then flakes in the midday sun—crashing loudly atop a snow cone that grows to 100 feet or higher.
Get close to both on an overnighter up Yosemite Creek in late March or early April. From the visitor center, walk west and cross several footbridges over the creek—and the frazil ice—and continue a mile to Camp Four. Follow switchbacks toward Lower Yosemite Falls and a view of the massive snow cone. More switchbacks take you past the upper falls and a perch overlooking the valley at mile 3.5. Continue a half mile to multiple camping options, just before Yosemite Point, with vistas of Half Dome and other granite icons. Caution: Be prepared for icy trails above the falls.
Map Trails Illustrated Yosemite SW ($10, natgeomaps.com) Info (209) 372-0200; nps.gov/yose
Subscribe to Backpacker magazine
Sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter
Reader Rating:
-
My Profile
Join Now
Most recent threads
The Political Arena
Denver Cops Arrest Italian Shotgun Manufacturer
Posted On: May 21, 2013
Submitted By: Marmotstew
Submitted By: Marmotstew
Editors' Choice 2013
412 trail-tested products
Boost Your Apps
Add powerful tools and exclusive maps to your BACKPACKER apps through our partnership with Trimble Outdoors.
Carry the Best Maps
With BACKPACKER PRO Maps, get life-list destinations and local trips on adventure-ready waterproof myTopo paper.
FREE Rocky Mountain Trip Planner
Sign up for a free Rocky Mountain National Park trip planning kit from our sister site MyRockyMountainPark.com.
Get 2 FREE Trial Issues and 3 FREE GIFTS
Survival Skills 101 • Eat BetterThe Best Trails in America
YES! Please send me my FREE trial issues of Backpacker
and my 3 FREE downloadable booklets.
Free trial offer valid for US subscribers only.
Canadian subscriptions |
International subscriptions
and my 3 FREE downloadable booklets.
READERS COMMENTS
Hiked to the top of Y Falls on Sat. 12/24, and Vernal Fall on Mon. 12/26. The ice crystals were spectacular. It looks like Lower YF to me
I Beg to differ. I believe this is lower Yosemite Falls.
Did they change the picture? because that sure is lower yosemite falls.
See it in motion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=9V9p4mFEYXc&vq=medium#t=15
I actually did this exact hike this past weekend. There is quite a bit of snow and ice past the lower falls, and coming back down from Yosemite Point back to the lower falls was quite difficult - lots of slipping. Be sure to bring trekking poles if you attempt this any time soon.
While the "snow-cone" that forms at the base of Upper Yosemite Falls is quite majestic and awe inspiring. The photo being represented as Yosemite Falls, is most definitely not. Having lived and worked in Yosemite for almost 7 years, and being a tour guide for 4 of those summers driving past it everyday....it is in actuality Bridalveil Falls. It is also apparent by the alluvial moraine visible at the top of the fall. That and the vegetation visible on the right side of the frame, the falls of upper Yosemite are sheer, and their are no large outcropping visible.
Bridalveil Falls may not have a sheer drop of 2425 feet, but it is just as majestic, and during very cold winters can become frozen from top to bottom, 617 feet, of ice!
That picture is not Yosemite Falls, it's Bridal Veil falls.
ADD A COMMENT