Black & White Horsetail, Yosemite National Park, California (Kyle Jones)

Horsetail Falls in Yosemite National Park has received a lot of attention on social media and even in the press lately. There are a few reasons for that: (1) February is the time when the phenomenon occurs (when all the right conditions line up); (2) Since California has gotten some rain and snow this winter, the falls are actually flowing; and (3) It really does look spectacular. Horsetail Falls is a small, seasonal waterfall just east of El Capitan in Yosemite. For a couple of weeks in February the geometry of the cliffs align with the setting sun to make the falls appear like a ribbon fire against the shadowed cliff face at sunset. Continue reading→

Black Rock Falls, Uvas Canyon, California (Kyle Jones)

I took advantage of the nice weather last weekend to do some hiking in the Bay Area, which also gave me a chance to see how the rains we’ve gotten this year have affected some of our local waterfalls. On Saturday, Sandee and I hiked the waterfall loop in Uvas Canyon south of San Jose and on Sunday I hiked one of my favorite loops in the Sunol Regional Wilderness. There was definitely a lot more water in the creeks flowing through these parks than I saw last year.Continue reading→