My friends and I used to do same-day trips to Lake Tahoe for skiing quite often. Lake Tahoe was 4 hours drive one way. As I got older, the same-day trip was no longer exciting, thinking of the long drive in the car became tiring. I miss the energy and the spontaneity associated with same-day trips but hardly find enough of the momentum.
Each February, when the weather is right, the sunset is at the right angle, the Horsetail Fall in the Yosemite National Park has the scene of a firefall at sunset. The firefall is a fitting description of the waterfall turning to lava-like fall down the El Capitan. We tried to catch the scene last year without success.
Feb 26 Friday, the weather was great, the sky was blue, it was a no-meeting week at work, it was almost the last day to try this year, and I had a day use entry ticket to Yosemite National Park. Moments after waking up, we made the spontaneous decision to go seek the firefall. Within two hours, our Volkswagen Jetta rental was on the freeway. We went by miles and miles of trees with beautiful tiny flowers : the almond trees, the pistachio trees.
Yosemite is a 4-hour drive one way. The roads seem to be much better paved than before, whether it is due to lesser use or active work. If there is a silver lining with the pandemic, it is the traffic.
On that day, the traffic was smooth, there were no lines at the entrance, and we did not have problems finding parking space. The park was neither quiet nor crowded. People followed the social distancing protocol and had masks. A 45-minute stroll took us to the horsetail fall. People were chatting within their group. There was quite a bit of snow along the way, which gave us hope that the waterfall has enough water to reflect the sunset. When we got to the vista point, there were already hundreds of people waiting. We barely found a spot to fit in our two low-back chairs, while maintaining some social distance with others. With our beanie, gloves, and ski jacket, there was time before sunset for books, snacks and pictures. We could hear people reminiscing about their firefall watching experiences in different years. After over an hour of waiting in the cold, the photographers started fidgeting their cameras, the amateurs were staring, with undivided attention, at the El Capitan horsetail fall. We could feel the ambience changing and it was quiet. The sunset lasted about 15 minutes, as the angle of the light changed, the firefall and its mist had a different look all the time. There were “a”s and “o”s It felt a bit like watching the fireworks in the crowd. It was spectacular and totally worth it. The pandemic has made this all the more unique. The firefall is like a scene out of the world.
We were tired and hungry as we arrived home. I checked off this item on my bucket list. The year-long shelter-in-place and extended work-from-home have not only grounded the body, but at times made us feel stuck. It is refreshing to reacquaint the spontaneity in life.
oliviatamccue 
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