The spectacle was the Yosemite Firefall, a nightly tradition in Yosemite National Park for some 88 years. I witnessed the Firefall myself as a child and still remember it with uncanny vividness.

At about the time of the 30th anniversary of the very last Yosemite Firefall, I felt compelled to compile this history and recollection as a tribute to the lasting impression the Firefall has had on me, and on countless others who have visited Yosemite during its first century as a National Park.

My intention was to present more than just a formal history, but to also provide a mechanism through which others could contribute to the site by recounting their own memories of the Firefall.

These contributions have been compiled in the last chapter of the history. In addition, there is even a contribution embellishing this opening page -- the photo at the top of this page. Read below for a description of how this unique photo was taken.

I'd like to thank all those who have contributed to this site so far, and welcome any new readers to do the same.

The Firefall picture above was graciously contributed by Judy Simpson whose father, Richard Marklin, took the photo in the spring of 1963.

On careful observation, you might question why the sky was light in the photo. The Firefall, as you'll learn in the history, was always presented in the evening after nightfall! Marklin explains how the image was captured:

The picture was taken with a Stereo Realist camera using 35mm Kodachrome with a film speed of 25. The picture was a double exposure. The background mountains were taken one or one and a half stops underexposed at about 6:00 PM. The camera was left in position on a tripod until 9:00 PM when the Firefall was started.

The camera lens was left open for the entire time that there was visible fire coming down the face of Glacier Point. It would be difficult to describe the exact location from which the picture was taken because it was a lateral off of the original shortcut trail from Camp Curry up to Glacier Point. This shortcut trail is now intentionally obscured by the park rangers because of at least two deaths caused by reckless hikers running down the trail and getting themselves killed by going over a cliff.

Consequently, the photo was created with the age-old photographic effect of double exposure, then prepared for publication using the rather newer techniques available in present-day image enhancement software to combine the two images into one. I was very happy with the final product, and am quite proud to open the Yosemite Firefall site with such a unique and fitting photo. Thank you Judy Simpson, and Richard Marklin for your contribution to the Firefall project.

Update: Jan 25, 2008 -- Just in time for the 40th anniversary of the last Firefall, we have updated the Firefall photo with one processed from a much higher-resolution scan of the Richard Marklin original slides! Ken Burns is in the process of producing a new documentary about the National Parks, and ran across this site, and his production company, Florentine Films, asked if they could use the photo in their production. They were able to contact Judy Simpson (Richard Marklin passed away several years ago), and get a new scan of the photo, then produced this image by combining the left and right images, just as I had done ten years ago. Thanks again to Richard Marklin, Judy Simpson, and now Ken Burns and Susanna Steisel at Florentine Films for bringing us the current incarnation of this beautiful photo!

A Message from the Webmaster:

I created the Firefall project ten years ago (see note below), and later built the photo sharing website LenzUs.com and the webring system TheRail.com. I'm thrilled to see them all last this long and I hope they last another few decades. Enjoy the site! -- Enjay Sea