quote:"all those who remember the Firefall will also pass"

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neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 20, 2007 - 10:25pm PT

hey there all, with all the FACELIFT going on, i was reminising to our kid days, when i was first in yosemite, SO:

i TOOK A LOOK-SEE as to this event... found this interesting quote, too, from this FIREFALLS history-info site.... say, so HOW many of us "witnesses" are left, as time marchs on?

firefalls ended: jan 25, 1968

i was about 10-12 years old, i'd reckon, when i first say it...
as the whole volume of yosemite made an impression on me that never left (and off course, a huge impression on ol' chappy, setting destiny, as he chose to make it his home) ... i will forever be an outdoors gal, from it---and yet, too:

the firefalls, "manmade" though it was, sure did impress this young kid, me, as it just addedd the night time magic, before i fell asleep, in AWE of the WHOLE WONDERFUL VALLEY...

1--do you remember, or is this an unheard of, or unseen event for you?
2--how old were you, etc, and what do you remember about it?
3--did you ever wonder what the heck happened after the fire hit the ground... we sure did...
4--did you spend any future years, seeing it again, or was it then "old hat" ... (say, i like some old hats :) )

HERE IS SOME GREAT INFO, HERE, FOR THOSE THAT HAVE NEVER SEEN OR HEARD OF SUCH....
these are the home-base info, the beginning info, and the ending of firefalls, info (more history links, are included on the site:

http://firefall.info/
http://firefall.info/tradition.html
http://firefall.info/readers.html

HERE IS SOMEONES PHOTO:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/85977374@N00/113397525/

*here is a bit more info, though most the best, has alread been said:

http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/yosemite_indians_and_other_sketches/fire_fall.html

have fun, all...

spyork

Social climber

A prison of my own creation

Sep 20, 2007 - 11:24pm PT

I was there for the last one. I remember it. I saw a couple before that also. I was 7 years old.

Crimpergirl

Social climber

St. Looney

Sep 20, 2007 - 11:35pm PT

Interesting post. I'd never heard of this before.

Mom

Social climber

So Cal

Sep 20, 2007 - 11:48pm PT

Oh, yes I remember.... we had to hurry and get supper over with and get the camp cleaned up so we could load up in our 1956 White Buick 4 door station wagon; Mother, Dad and four Okie kids who were so excited we really didn't care if we had any supper or not. We had seen photos of it, and wanted to be in the best place in the valley to witness it. Cannot tell you where Dad took us to... we were camped on that huge rock the size of a house in what is now Camp 4; in 1960 it was reserved for campers with pets. We were not traveling with our beloved pure-bred boxer 'Red', but Dad figured he had four pets with two legs, so that ought to serve to satisfy the limitation on that camp ground. Besides, we paid full price of $2.00 per night and didn't even have a picnic table. We were in Yosemite in July; it was late in the evening before it went off!!! and when the fire and the embers went off, we knew we had seen something wonderful that we would never see any place else. We knew that rangers built the fire and manned the entire operation; therefore it was safe and no threat to the park/valley. We didn't think about where the embers went to or anything else.... it was the '60's and I was 14 years old.... all I had on my mind was trying to find a look and not let my dad know that I was looking. Besides that, I was the oldest and had a lot of chores to do. Camping in Yosemite was just about the best place we ever camped. Arches National Monument was a dry camp back then - it was so hot we didn't even set up the tent... just laid it on the ground and slept on top. No cost to use the facilities; had to haul water from a tank on wheels that was parked close to the campground entrace. Anyways, use kids wore out our new camping jeans(straight from Montgomery Wards) crawling up some of the 30 degreee slopes and sliding down them. My little brother was 7 years old and not only did he wear out his jeans, he wore through to his underware ( hump!! so much for J.C. Penney skivvies). The '50 and the '60's were a fantastico time to be a kid and to be growing up in probably the safest time in recent history. Stay well and there ARE great days ahead! Mom

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 20, 2007 - 11:50pm PT

hey there crimpergirl... i am seriously wondering and very curious is there are many of us left... at least here... as i have come to find many climber here are a newer generation....

try and picture yourself as a young kid... just seeing this fantastic valley for the FIRST time in your life---and then to see that "river of fire" going over that cliff... really something....

coure, us kids didnt think about the --quote: burnt lichen, on the rocks... that would hopefully someday grow back...

i always wondered about the start of this, and was very shocked to see someone had done all this work, to preserve the history...

man, oh, man... yeah, as part of yosemite history... we that saw it the firefalls, sure saw something unique... not sure if any folks ever did stuff like this... course, there aint many cliffs like glacier point!

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 21, 2007 - 12:00am PT

hey there all... say, perhaps yosemite is the only place to have ever had such a spectacular viewing... as to a man-made event, such as this (looked like a real "water wall of light".... yeah... once you see it... you NEVER forget it...

i remember we were all sitting in a field-type area, on rock, or perhaps there was even some wood-beam fencess, not sure about that part... and we had come from camp site, as well...

i just dont know the exact place we stayed that night... i wished i could have seen it each night, forever... haha.. but our dad wasn't too adventurous ... our mother was the outdoors gal...

we also saw it with folks from germany, once,or then, i think...

i remember going up there, too, to glacier point, and seeing the area and view... and i think we went up BEFORE the firefalls went that night???, ... we got to see where "the action was... or was going to be:--whichever it was....

hope you all get to take a peek at the only pics that i found...

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 21, 2007 - 12:03am PT

hey there spyork... say, not sure.. but i think this history site that i found, was done for the ? 30? year anniversary of the last one... the one you saw...

say... does anyone out there have any PICTURES OF THE YOSEMITE firefalls to post????

spyork

Social climber

A prison of my own creation

Sep 21, 2007 - 12:09am PT

I am pretty sure we stayed in curry tents. I have to call my mom and ask her. My dad and sister are gone and my brother tips the bottle a bit too much.

My dad said it was very spectacular but he didnt figure how they could let something so destructive happen in a national park. Go figure...

I dont even remember which cliff. Was it glacier point?

Jaybro

Social climber

The West

Sep 21, 2007 - 12:12am PT

I saw it sometime in the summer of '60. I had my 4th birthday that summer, on that vacation, probably in Bezerkely, I don't remember that part. I do remember the fire fall. Lots of standing around, grown-ups encouraging me to pay attention,feeling really bored, etc.

Then thousands of feet of flame (as I saw it)! I can close my eyes and see it right now; at least as I recall it.

Wonder if I would have been as compelled to make three painstaking, trips to burningman without that memory?

For the record, oh yeah, that strikes me as an inappropriate use of our cultural heritage. But three years later, when we went to
Yellowstone and watched old Faithful, I was ready for it, "oh the water this time,"

Five years later, '68, my Dad and I backpacked across Isle Royale, scoped Moose and Wolves, "all theese parks got cool stuff." I hadda think.

In ~70 I did the Keyhole up cables down, on Longs with Dad. Refocused me on climbing.

In August '79 Dad, one witness of the Firefall, passed.

(Pancreatic Ca, symptoms first noted in Jan of that same year, he was only 56 and athletic, at the top of his game. There is talk that his being in Nagasaki 'the day after' might have been bad for his health.)

But about six weeks before the end he happily sat through my slides of WFLT, The Arrow Direct and the Prow. That was the latest he'd stayed up past his meds, in months.

We will all pass. I don't share the multiple lives view (at least not in a literal sense) that some others here do. Take the time to do it right, but make it count, and don't put it off.

Do something, give something, leave something. Isn't that a sound idea? even if you get other chances?

Okay, off soapbox.

Weird sh#t that firefall!!
Really!

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 21, 2007 - 12:17am PT

hey there jaybro... man, oh, man... you made me LAUGH... with these words of yours:

".....But three years later, when we went to
Yellowstone and watched old Faithful, I was ready for it, "oh the water this time,"

as to the natural resouses and national park... yeah, being a kid, i just trusted that they knew what they were doing... as like... i just reckoned there must "non-burnables" below... but that was as far ahead as i saw, then...

sorry to hear about your dad passing-on that way* makes the firefall more special, huh, knowing he saw it with ya'

Strongerdog

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Sep 21, 2007 - 12:18am PT

I was in Yosemite for summer vacations every year from my first year of life in 1959 onward, and definitely remember walking over to Camp Curry for the firefall many nights. Eventually, someone running the event in Curry would yell up to Glacier Point with a loud speaker "let the fire fall", and it would soon start. Lost one of my teeth looking up watching it one time.

I also remember seeing the lights of the climbers on the walls, especially Half Dome, at night before going to bed. We would get our flashlights out and try to communicate with them.

Years later, after actually climbing Tis-sa-ack, I e-mailed Royal Robbins and told him about being a kid wondering about those climbers sleeping on the walls back then. He e-mailed back a nice note saying "now you know".

Jaybro

Social climber

The West

Sep 21, 2007 - 12:20am PT

"now you know".

-classic!

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 21, 2007 - 12:21am PT

hey there strongdog... yeah, check out the links on that page... talked about how the "yell" would take place....

Clint Cummins

Trad climber

SF Bay area, CA

Sep 21, 2007 - 12:23am PT

"Hey, Mr. Ranger - What time do they throw the flaming bear off Glacier Point?"

Perhaps the tradition could be resurrected informally, maybe in a slightly different format? But please, no flaming cars going over the edge.

John Moosie

climber

Sep 21, 2007 - 12:25am PT

I grew up watching it. We use to camp for 2 weeks every year at crane flats campground and drive to the valley to see it. Great vacations. Now no one in my family camps except me.

One of my friends use to build the fire every night. It was built out of bark and once it was going they used a long wooden pole to push it off. And yes, it came off of glacier point. There use to be a metal chute which they pushed the burning embers through.

I would love to see it again.

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 21, 2007 - 12:30am PT

hey there john moosie... say, check out the links, there... there were a few pics... think there was one of them pushing the fire down.. or getting ready to...

its a black and white pic...

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 21, 2007 - 12:33am PT

hey there... hard to believe it was a nightly tradition for
88 years, it said...

Raydog

Trad climber

Boulder Colorado

Sep 21, 2007 - 12:36am PT

neebee thanks for the email and the post - I remember the Firefall!

warmest regards,

Ray

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 21, 2007 - 12:38am PT

hey there...

say, you all... one of the links that i listed has a whole list of "eye witnesses" and there comments... you can go there, too, and you can list your "eye-witness" comments, as well...

say, you may even know some of the folks that posted--you neverrrrrrrr know...

here is the link... scroll down, and you can add what you saw, as well... i plan to do it later...

http://firefall.info/readers.html

Raydog

Trad climber

Boulder Colorado

Sep 21, 2007 - 12:41am PT

Gary

climber

Desolation Basin, Calif.

Sep 21, 2007 - 12:48am PT

My much older cousin took his honeymoon in Yosemite, so I got to see it on home movies. Pretty cool, too bad they stopped.

Raydog

Trad climber

Boulder Colorado

Sep 21, 2007 - 12:52am PT

glad you didn't go away neebee - you're a really special person and I hope to see you around a long time.

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 21, 2007 - 12:55am PT

hey there raydog... say, thanks for getting the pics up here... say, i just saw a post from:

gary...

say, i had forgot that they DID have a type of video camera back in them days.... we never had them, so i didn't realize that... sure not like todays---but say, what a "one of a kind" home movie!

Chicken Skinner

Trad climber

Yosemite

Sep 21, 2007 - 12:56am PT

For you Neebee from an old postcard.

Ken

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 21, 2007 - 12:58am PT

hey there raydog... thanks....say, i got a lot of "studying" to do, and lots of editing for my fiction novels... but i plan to stay where my brother "name" has drawn me.... good ol' yosemite, is near at hand here....

i may miss a few days... but there 's a few "streams" here for me, most likely.... :)

*reckon, i got to brush the ol' food out of my hair, on occasion, though... :)

say, i got to keep yosemites "firefall" alive, and look after its "up-keep" for a bit of future history....

**say, i wonder how many park rangers are still around that remember it, too????

anyone know???

Raydog

Trad climber

Boulder Colorado

Sep 21, 2007 - 01:01am PT

hey there neebee,

say...no problem

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 21, 2007 - 01:04am PT

hey there chicken skinner.... man, OH, man...
you really DID it...

my computer is so slow to open photos that this POSTCARD unfolded JUST as if the firefall was coming down--------wellllllllllll, perhaps a MITE slower, one must confess....

say, chicken skinner... that post card sure is old, huh? :)
and you know---its one of the most wonderful things i seen lately... that and those photos from jody, on that post of his....

say, i like the fact that the CAMP CURRY sign showed up there... you know, that postcard, hmmm... just may become a 'family heirloom' there... hang onto it...

thanks again, and very very much... to all you guys...

scuffy b

climber

The deck above the 5

Sep 21, 2007 - 11:25am PT

I want to make clear that those Rangers Did Not Use a Loudspeaker
to communicate with each other.
"Hello Glacier Point."
"Hello Camp Curry."
"Let the Fire fall."
"The Fire falls"
The guys at Camp Curry told the same joke about using flash bulbs
for decades, probably.

CascadeOtto

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Sep 21, 2007 - 11:57am PT

I remember the firefall from family vacations in the sixties. I was around 10 years old, my Dad was in the Navy reserve and had to go to San Diego every summer. I remember the platform tents so it must have been Curry camp. We got to stay up late and watch the firefall. It was all awesome for this child.

I wish I could remember more specific rocks I played on. Getting to the top was a goal even then, but with no notion that grownups did this with equipment and techniques.

The firefall was one more dish in the feast that was summer camping in California!

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 22, 2007 - 12:01am PT

hey there cascade otto... say, as to this, what you said:

"I wish I could remember more specific rocks I played on. Getting to the top was a goal even then, but with no notion that grownups did this with equipment and techniques.

The firefall was one more dish in the feast that was summer camping in California!"

i too, wish i could remember what rocks i had climbed on... they were just great... wish i could go back and check that one
exact part of yosemite out again...

plus, oddly, my ex, was in the navy reserve, and after i had my own kids in texas, the ONLY way they got to experience calif, was by us traveling (they paid gas)... and then we drove up to san jose, while he went back down to san diego---my kids DID get to go to ALPINE LAKE, to camp... but as my ex was not wanting to camp, etc---that was the end of it...years, later, we DID make to yosemite, and they felt the magic, too...

thanks for the share... man, that navy reserve, was the only link to calif that we had for near 25 years...

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 22, 2007 - 12:03am PT

hey there scrufyb... thanks for the info, on this!:

"I want to make clear that those Rangers Did Not Use a Loudspeaker
to communicate with each other." and the fun, etc, that followed...

TomKimbrough

Social climber

Salt Lake City

Sep 22, 2007 - 10:48am PT

I did Half Dome NWF, must have been Memorial Day weekend ’67. Two nights on the face, nailed everything we could, no one else there. The fire falls were a nightly treat!

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 23, 2007 - 06:46pm PT

hey there tom.... say, thanks for the share... wow, and back in '67.... say, and no one was there for the climb, or for the firefall?

seems you had your very own speical TREAT!

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Topic Author's Reply - Sep 23, 2007 - 06:50pm PT

hey there all, say this bit of history branches out so very wide, that i had posted this same note of the firefalls at some other sites that i usually hang-out at....

turns out that a few folks always start to surface that HAVE seen the firefall--and it was always an added treat, they say, to the enormous beauty of yosemite...

also, there are many younger folk that had NO IDEA that such a thing ever even existed... it seems to be a sort of hidden treasure.... though, of course, not as lovely as the real rocks of nature---but still, a beauty all its own...

Larry

Trad climber

Bisbee

Sep 25, 2007 - 12:19am PT

I remember my cousin, who lived in the Bay area, telling me about seeing the firefall. He's gone now.

He also told me about what happened when people took this thing called LSD.

mouse from merced

Trad climber

The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.

Apr 22, 2013 - 04:42am PT

BUMP FOR FIRE!

"This history was posted on Jan 25, 1998 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the last Yosemite Firefall."

It's the same one neebee published in the OP.

http://firefall.info/readers.html

mouse from merced

Trad climber

The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.

Jul 28, 2014 - 11:20am PT

A bump in the night.

Oops! There he goes, so sorry! And another one bites the dust...

The night time is the right time to see the stars above
It's also the right time to be in the City you love,
the City of Light.

Here's a page that was brought to my attn. by the book I'm involved in, The Good Inn.
http://centenaire.org/en/fernand-jacopozzi-magician-light

Quite a story.
Like Nick Fiore.

There is an interview with Nick and Huell Howser here someplace. I'll let you find it on your own. It's in four parts. Just Google Huell's name and 'firefall.'

HighDesertDJ

Trad climber

Jul 28, 2014 - 11:42am PT

My grandmother (90 years old) always talks wistfully of the firefall whenever we talk about Yosemite. Definitely a hallmark of a bygone era and a different attitude about parks and the outdoors. I can only imagine it was a truly breathtaking sight. I'm glad it's not done anymore but I can sure understand why they did it.

When I complained to my grandmother about the existence of the Ahwahnee I remember she responded "well Yosemite would be a very different place if you couldn't stay there." Not much of an outdoorsman but a great lady.

rgold

Trad climber

Poughkeepsie, NY

Jul 28, 2014 - 05:23pm PT

I think I saw the last ones in 1968. I was 25 at the time and on my first visit to Yosemite, although by then I'd already been climbing for 11 years, having spent most of my formative climbing days in Devil's Lake Wisconsin, the Gunks, and the Tetons.

nita

Social climber

chica de chico, I don't claim to be a daisy.

Jul 28, 2014 - 06:16pm PT

.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Love the opening song and video...classic.
Ranger Dick and backcountry Nick.

[Click to View YouTube Video]

em kn0t

Trad climber

isle of wyde

Jul 28, 2014 - 06:37pm PT

Yes, I remember seeing the firefall. Don't remember the exact date but it must've been a camping trip with my family in the late 50s or early 60s. Haven't passed yet, but it sure seems a long time past.

Thanks, Nita for posting the video. Kind of ironic that the magnificent old Glacier Point lodge was destroyed by fire (03:50 in the video).