Thinking about the Sierra Nevada's as I have the last few days... I recalled the "Firefall" in Yosemite. For those who have not heard of it...

It was tradition in Yosemite Valley for a nighty "firefall"... a large fire was built on the summit of Glacier Point and at 9pm they would start pushing it over the edge... falling, oh, perhaps 1,500' or so. It was, to say the least, spectacular. It ended in 1968.... I saw the very last one.

It began this way:

“Hello, Glacier Point!”

“Hello, Camp Curry!”

“Is the fire ready?”

“The fire is ready!”

“Let the Fire Fall!”

“The Fire Falls!”

Though soft you could hear the call from Glacier Point on the valley floor, (Glacier Point about 3,200' above the valley floor), and vice versa, which I witnessed a few times.

Everyone in the valley would gather in the meadows for a clear view, or at Camp Curry where the above 'caller' would call for the show to begin. We would gather far ahead of time...yelling "Elmer". Another Yosemite tradition, the origin lost in history - many stories. To this day, actually, there are enough of us old timers around that should you ever camp on the valley floor of Yosemite you will hear, nightly, someone call out "Elmer".

Yosemite is, to put it bluntly, the most beautiful place on earth. I spent a minimum of two weeks there every summer from birth through High School. I had just been accepted for a job there in 1970 when Uncle Sam came up with another plan for me.

thought of posting this because of my conversation with sstrams. I have traveled a great deal of this earth... and have fallen in love with many, many places. The Alps, Mt. Fuji, The Black Hills, Monument Valley, the Smoky Mtns., Denali, British Columbia, but after all those miles... it's Yosemite. And to think it's only 3 hours by car from my home. - JamesJM