Vernal Fall
{{Short description|Waterfall on the Merced River in Yosemite National Park}}
{{Infobox waterfall
| name = Vernal Fall
| photo = Vernal Fall, Yosemite NP, CA, US - Diliff.jpg
| photo_caption = Vernal Fall from Mist Trail
| location = Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California
| type = Plunge
| coords = {{coord|37.727426|N|119.543773|W|region:US-CA_type:waterbody|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| height = {{convert|317|ft}}
| number_drops = 1
| average_flow =
| world_rank = 860
}}
Vernal Fall is a {{convert|317|ft|m|sigfig=3|adj=on}} waterfall on the Merced River just downstream of Nevada Fall in Yosemite National Park, California.{{cite web | author=N. King Huber | title=The Geologic Story of Yosemite Valley | work=USGS Western Region Geologic Information | url=http://geology.wr.usgs.gov/docs/usgsnps/yos/topobk.html | access-date=2005-09-20 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051111103541/http://geology.wr.usgs.gov/docs/usgsnps/yos/topobk.html |archive-date = 2005-11-11}}The official name is singular, see {{Gnis|255195|Vernal Fall}} Like its upstream neighbor, Vernal Fall is clearly visible at a distance, from Glacier Point, as well as close up, along the Mist Trail. The waterfall flows all year long, although by the end of summer it is substantially reduced in volume and can split into multiple strands, rather than a single curtain of water.
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History
=Etymology=
Yan-o-pah (little cloud) was the local name of the fall before it was named "Vernal"- meaning relating to Spring - by Lafayette Bunnell, a member of the Mariposa Battalion in 1851.{{cite book | last=Farquhar | first=Francis P. | chapter=V - Vernal Fall | title=Place Names of the High Sierra | location=San Francisco | publisher=Sierra Club | year=1926 | oclc=2871447| chapter-url=http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/place_names_of_the_high_sierra/v.html}}{{cite book | last=Bunnell | first=Lafayette Houghton | title=Discovery of the Yosemite and the Indian War of 1851 Which Led to That Event | location=Washington, D.C. | publisher=Library of Congress, National Digital Library Program| year=2003 | orig-year=1880 | oclc=51675913 | url=http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/calbk.vg20 | access-date=2009-01-05 }}
Mist Trail
The trail begins at the Happy Isles trail head in Yosemite Valley and travels generally east-southeast. This is one of the shortest ({{convert|1.3|mi|disp=or|abbr=on}}) and most popular trails in Yosemite. The trail is mostly shaded and is progressive in incline until it reaches the base of the waterfall where mist sprays onto the hikers.
At times of high flow, mostly in the spring, hikers may be drenched by the time they pass the mist from the waterfall. The final 15 minutes of the trail is a very steep climb up rocks to the top of the waterfall. Once atop the fall there is a pool of water called the Emerald Pool around which hikers lounge and rest. There is also a 20 degree slope of rock with water flowing into the pool called the Silver Apron.
Hazards
File:Yosemite Nationalpark Vernal Falls IMG 20180411 123325.jpg
Swimming above Vernal Fall carries a great deal of risk: the rocks are slippery, the river has strong undercurrents that may not be visible from the surface, and tourists have been swept over the fall to their deaths.[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna43815801 NBC News] Though swimming there is illegal{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/vernalnevadatrail.htm|title=Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall Trails - Yosemite National Park (U.S. National Park Service)}} and warnings to stay out of the water are clearly posted, several deaths have occurred when visitors entered the water above the fall in the vicinity of the Silver Apron and Emerald Pool. Three people died in a single day, on July 19, 2011, after being swept over Vernal Fall in this manner.{{cite news |title=Yosemite waterfall accident a cautionary tale for Yosemite visitors |author=Brad Knickerbocker |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0721/Yosemite-waterfall-accident-a-cautionary-tale-for-Yosemite-visitors |newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor |date=July 21, 2011 |access-date=July 21, 2011}}
Postage stamp
The fall is shown in error on a 1932 Philippines stamp. Although the stamp indicates that it depicts Pagsanjan Falls in the Philippines, it in fact shows Vernal Fall.{{Cite book | editor-last=Kloetzel | editor-first=Joseph | title=Scott 2008 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue | volume=5 | publisher=Scott catalogue | date=August 2007 | location=Sidney, OH | pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780894873997/page/231 231] | isbn=978-0-89487-399-7 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780894873997/page/231 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons and category|Vernal Fall}}
- [http://www.yosemite.ca.us/history/place_names_of_the_high_sierra/v.html Place Names of the High Sierra, "V", Francis Farquhar]
- {{cite web | author=United States Geological Survey | title=Topographical Map for 37.7274262, -119.5437725 | url=http://www.topoquest.com/map.asp?lat=37.7274262&lon=-119.5437725&s=24&size=l&u=4&datum=nad27&layer=DRG | access-date=2008-07-05}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20071001050134/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/keir.clarke/vernal.htm View a short video embedded in Google Maps]
{{YosemiteWaterfalls}}
{{Yosemite National Park}}