Brave: The Fire Waterfalls

Is it true? Does the Fire Waterfall really exist? Why is it called that? These are the questions that I asked myself when I saw the first two or three scenes of ‘Brave’... And I’m here to answer those questions.

Yes, the Waterfall really exists, and it’s called the “Horsetail Fall”, a seasonal waterfall that flows in the winter and early spring. Unlike what we see in the movie, this waterfall is not located in Scotland, but in the east side of El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California.
The “Horsetail Fall” is also known as the “Firefall” because of a beautiful optical illusion that takes place here only a few days in the year. Around the second week of February, the setting sun hits Horsetail Fall at just the right angle to illuminate the upper reaches of the waterfall. And when conditions are perfect, Horsetail Fall glows orange and red at sunset. These ‘Perfect Conditions’ are:

First and foremost, Horsetail Fall must be flowing. This depends on the amount of snowpack in February, which has to be enough to turn to water and feed the waterfall, and the temperatures, that must be warm enough during the day to melt the snowpack.
Second, the western sky must be clear at sunset. If it’s cloudy the sun’s rays will be blocked and Horsetail Falls will not light up.

If everything comes together and conditions are just right, the Yosemite Firefall will light up for about ten minutes, as if fire were falling from the top of the cliffs. To see Horsetail Fall glowing blood red is an almost supernatural experience.
In February of 2018, the park service started a program, creating a restricted zone from Yosemite Valley Lodge to El Capitan Crossover because of the large number of cars that blocked the passage. This zone offers some of the best views of Horsetail Fall.
If you want to enter the restricted zone, you can do it on foot, or you can obtain a special permit to park in the area. This permit is free, but there are only 300 permits per day (250 permits online and 50 first-come, first-served), that you can buy the first days of February.

Photograph by @Jay Huang

Pocahontas: Can Trees Talk?

Almost everybody has seen Pocahontas at least once. The most curious part of the movie for me? Well, it was quite shocking to see Grandmother Willow, a talking willow tree, that somewhat guided Pocahontas. Some years later, I’m asking myself this... Can trees talk? Can they communicate with us? Could we learn from them like the protagonist? Recent evidence says that trees can communicate with each other. Suzanne Simard ’s research shows that below the earth there are vast networks of roots working with fungi to move water, carbon, and nutrients among trees of all species. These complex, symbiotic networks, also known as Wood-Wide Web or mycorrhizal networks, mimic human neural and social networks. This network even has mother trees or hub trees, managing information flow, helping younger seedlings and passing wisdom from generation to generation. Peter Wohlleben , a German forester and author, also researched in this area, proving that not only through the soil can trees communi...

The Twilight Saga: How the Idea of a Soulmate Affects Our Mind

Everybody knows at least one of the synonyms for the word “soulmate”: androgynous, soulmate, destined, mate, ‘true love’, ‘one's promised’... But there’s only one definition: a special affinity, understanding, or powerful bond that exists between one person and another. For example, we see Jacob Black (one of the principal characters of the movie “ Twilight ”) in the penultimate movie of the saga finding out that Bella and Edward’s daughter, Reneesmé, is his soulmate. As I thought about this, I became very curious about one thing... How many people believed in having a soulmate? Well, according to a Marist poll , 73% of Americans believe in soulmates; more men than women believe in the ‘soulmate’ theory (males: 74%, females: 71%); and 79% of people younger than 45 believe in soulmates, while only 69% of those over 45 do. Now, that’s a lot of people! And again, thinking about this, how would this theory, believing in a ‘soulmate’ affect their minds? Luckily for me, I found some sci...

The Book of Life: The Impostor’s Syndrome

Some of you may have seen the movie The Book of Life . I liked, one way or the other, all the characters presented in the plot: some of them are odious, some are lovable... And one of the characters that’s the most pitiest, for me, is Joaquin. In the movie, we see a fearless General, ready for whatever comes in the way... Is it? Actually, no. He is consumed by guilt, really thinking that he doesn’t deserve all the medals and achievements he has. Even when he no longer has his ‘special medal’ to protect him (we have to see how ‘special’ was... Maybe it was something to lift his self-confidence, like the ‘ beauty patch ’, or the trick that Harry Potter plays on his friend Ronald ) and fights along with Manolo, almost sacrificing himself on the way, he doesn’t feel himself worthy of a medal anymore. This kind of thinking, self-doubting your competence and capacities, the overwhelming feeling that you don't deserve your success, is what we call ‘Impostor Syndrome’. As Joaquin, pe...

The Green Papyrus

Search This Blog