Half Dome Avalanche and Big Yosemite Falls
The rock walls around Yosemite Valley are alive with falling snow and big waterfalls as the spring thaw continues
Yosemite National Park is home to some of the best rock climbing in the world, but most people who visit are just going to take in the sights. And over the past few days, there has been a lot to see.
There was an avalanche on Half Dome that was caught on video, which you can watch below. “I was hiking next to Snow Creek Falls looping back toward Half Dome,” said Mike Wright who captured the snow slide. Yosemite Falls is also in full force as the metres of snow above are melting off. Yosemite saw the worst of a California blizzard over the winter, which dumped a high amount of snow throughout the mountains. The water in the fall comes from Yosemite Creek, which is fed completely by snow melt.
“Yosemite Falls has been making quite a splash lately in a display that should only be getting bigger over the next few weeks,” Yosemite National Park said in a statement. “While recent rains add an extra surge to the flow, it’s primarily snow that feeds our most famous waterfall—snow that is properly melting right about now. The aptly named Yosemite Creek at the top of the fall collects the snowmelt from 43 square miles north of the Valley, but that melt doesn’t occur all at once. Warming temperatures ramp up the melt rate of the snow that’s been stockpiling since the fall, with peak flow usually occurring sometime in May before often drying out completely in late summer. For this reason, our hydrologists measure the flow of the park’s waterways in a ‘water year’ that turns over each October that captures one continuous cycle of snowfall, melt, and dry season.”
Yosemite National Park has also brought back its policy of requiring reservations for entry in hopes of limiting overcrowding, learn more here. If you’re new to climbing in Yosemite, read this handy checklist by climber Erik Sloan about what to expect.
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