If you reread the description of landscapes in the works of Russian and foreign classics, you will notice that most of them are associated with sunlight, regardless of the time of day. "In the rays of the morning sun, everything seemed pink ... The pre-sunset rays were painted with a crimson glow ... the treetops of the forest ... The midday sun gave silver a sultry haze." - such verbal sketches are often found in Turgenev, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Zweig, D. London. They capture the amazing property of solar illumination to change the color of surrounding objects, making them now menacingly gloomy, now sadly dull, now elegantly festive and delightful. But sometimes it is able to transform with its bizarre play the environment beyond recognition, as happened in the American nature reserve of Yosemite, California with a waterfall, named for its unusual cascade, reminiscent of a horse's tail.
The history of the discovery of the waterfall
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This waterfall was first seen by an inquisitive explorer of mountainous reliefs, Joseph Walker, together with a group of travelers, who made the transition through the Sierra Nevada in 1883. El Capitan rock is located on the western slopes of the mountain range of the same name, attracting climbers with its height (2307 m.) Above sea level and in varying degrees of difficult routes. During his stay in these places, the researcher discovered on the eastern slope of the rock a small cascade of water falling from a great height in two streams located at different levels. But then he could not imagine that he had discovered one of the six highest unique waterfalls in America, which would later be called the "ponytail" for bifurcation. It is not known whether Walker was able to see the waterfall at the moments of "burning" or not, but history captured him as the discoverer of the "Horse Tail".
You can read more about Yosemite Park on our website Yosemite Park, USA.
There are many bodies of water on the territory of the National Park, but this one is of particular interest to millions of tourists, not only because of its unusual shape and height. For several days in February, it becomes fiery, giving the impression of either pouring molten blast furnace lava, or a continuous fiery flame. The sight of the "burning" waterfall is so unusual and amazing that crowds of tourists, photographers and artists come here these few days. It is impossible to take your eyes off the unique landscape; its somewhat eerie beauty bewitches, giving rise to thoughts about the mysterious forces of nature. Probably, the ancient Indians, seeing the waterfall at this time, attributed its "burning" to the forces of angry spirits, because, indeed, it is scary to see the incandescent fire flowing down.
The secret of the "fiery" waterfall
However, there is a very real explanation for this: the jets turn fiery red not at any time of the day, but at sunset. It is on certain days of February that the sunset rays fall on the rocks at such an angle that their reflections color the streams of water, turning them into fiery streams and creating such a fantastically unreal picture.
The ponytail falls in two streams; one of them descends from a height of 480 meters, the other from 650 meters, and this further enhances the illusion of fire sliding over the rocks. Yosemite National Park covers 3,081 sq. km., which are occupied by picturesque mountains, thousands of lakes and ponds, many small rivers and two large; this area is a real paradise for wildlife lovers, climbers, biologists and zoologists. But according to statistics, the largest number of curious people gathers in the Yosemite Valley, on which the "burning" waterfall is located. A huge number of photographs, sketches and paintings have already been made, video films have been shot; the whole world learned about this phenomenon, and now people from all countries come here to see with their own eyes the terrible beauty of this mysterious place.
"Horse tail" for tourists
The most convenient place for observation is the Glacier Point platform, which allows you to perfectly observe the opening panorama of the "fire" tail. The high masses of wild rocks surrounding it give this vision an extraordinary mystery, create an aura of divinity. It seems that the flaming streak, thrown down from above, leads into some unknown depth, which no one is given to comprehend, just as it is not given to command the indisputable laws of nature, amenable to explanation, but from this they never cease to amaze with their unexpected shocking metamorphoses. Faced with the manifestations of such natural physical phenomena, you forget about any scientific nature and you do not consider them otherwise than a miracle, not to mention the wild tribes of distant ancestors. One can only imagine how shocked the ancient Indians were when they first saw the "burning" waterfall; what an ecstatic horror gripped them. Of course, they naively believed that this waterfall was sent by the Spirits to intimidate, that it was only they (the all-powerful spirits) who were able to turn water into fire.
Civilized modern people, although they know that the Spirits have nothing to do with it, but also freeze from ecstatic fear, looking at this "pouring" fire. If you look at it from the side, then against the background of darkening rock ledges, the "ponytail" looks like a bright tailed a meteor that broke away from the Sun itself. A glance from the opposite position sees him like a narrow orange ribbon, accidentally caught on the stone giants and firmly hooked on the ledge; it seems that the wind has already tousled her into long rags, but she still continues to flutter in a bright long rag.
The rest of the time, the waterfall is no longer such a super-spectacle, but the height of the cascade and its funny outlines continue to amaze and attract tourists here. The whole valley in any season will present many interesting surprises, the main of which is the February landscape of a unique waterfall.
Recommended reading The most beautiful waterfalls in the world.
