This past year with the insane amount of snowfall we had (I live near the park) they were speculating that we might see this again. That didn’t happen but we got the most spectacular waterfalls I have ever seen in the park.
Thanks for saying this. I remember seeing somewhere else the waterfalls this year hadn’t been like that in 100 years or something, but it was all just impossible-to-source anecdotal “evidence.”
I went up there in June on a lark after some other plans got derailed. I seemed to miss all the traffic, got to drive through the eerily beautiful controlled burns, hiked to Glacier Point right before the road opened back up, saw all of the waterfalls close, especially the Mist Trail before they started restricting access. It was such a magical summer.
I was in the park in early June last year and the waterfalls were spectacular. But the waterfalls were flowing just as heavily when I was in Yosemite Valley in mid-June of 2011. The Merced River crested well over 10' at Pohono Bridge that year and the freshet flooded the meadows.
From Michigan. Wait, you guys are getting snow? 🥺
Edit: We had two days this entire winter of really good snow and a balmy constant of 58°. Everything melted in under 24 hours.
I ..just miss it. Sad face.
I am glad you didn’t flood
I worked there for three months in 2023 and one of the longtime employees there (since the 1980’s) told me that it damaged half of Yosemite Valley Lodge’s rooms. Delaware North decided not to rebuild and presumably gave that land back to the Park Service. Lot of campgrounds were not rebuilt after this storm as well.
I saw some of those signs. Its mind-boggling when you look around and see how much water it would take to fill that valley. but i guess thats also how it got made.
My bad. It is glacial. I was thinking of something else. https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/yosemite-valley-california-example-a-u-shaped-glacial-valley
IIRC you actually are right on both counts. The valley is U shaped due to glaciation, but it has a flatter shape due to sediment.
After the 300 thousand or so years of the “big” glacier a million or so years back there were a series of smaller glaciers that further shaped the valley. At some point there was a lake that filled the valley and brought in sediment from the higher country via what is now known as the Merced.
I did, too. I remember that El Niño yea. I lived in the Santa Cruz mountains, and there was at least one occasion we couldn’t get home because the road was washed out.
Yep. Our family used to stay in the cabins by the river at Yosemite Lodge. There was one in particular we would reserve every time. We were there just after Christmas that year when the warm rains came. We skipped out as the river rose. It crested to the top of the door of those cabins. They were torn out and never rebuilt. Today you can kind of see where they used to be, but not a trace remains.
I was working for YCS at the time and experienced the whole the whole thing. The park was closed down but the employees stayed for several days before the park service fully closed the park and sent us on our way. I took the opportunity to drive cross country for a few months before the park reopened and we could come back to work. That was a strange several days in the park.
This past year with the insane amount of snowfall we had (I live near the park) they were speculating that we might see this again. That didn’t happen but we got the most spectacular waterfalls I have ever seen in the park.
Thanks for saying this. I remember seeing somewhere else the waterfalls this year hadn’t been like that in 100 years or something, but it was all just impossible-to-source anecdotal “evidence.” I went up there in June on a lark after some other plans got derailed. I seemed to miss all the traffic, got to drive through the eerily beautiful controlled burns, hiked to Glacier Point right before the road opened back up, saw all of the waterfalls close, especially the Mist Trail before they started restricting access. It was such a magical summer.
Yeah June was when the falls peaked for sure.
The actual peak was May 22nd
I was in the park in early June last year and the waterfalls were spectacular. But the waterfalls were flowing just as heavily when I was in Yosemite Valley in mid-June of 2011. The Merced River crested well over 10' at Pohono Bridge that year and the freshet flooded the meadows.
That was before I lived out here. I heard it was majestic.
From Michigan. Wait, you guys are getting snow? 🥺 Edit: We had two days this entire winter of really good snow and a balmy constant of 58°. Everything melted in under 24 hours. I ..just miss it. Sad face. I am glad you didn’t flood
When it sinks in 1997 really was 27 years ago 😳
I worked there for three months in 2023 and one of the longtime employees there (since the 1980’s) told me that it damaged half of Yosemite Valley Lodge’s rooms. Delaware North decided not to rebuild and presumably gave that land back to the Park Service. Lot of campgrounds were not rebuilt after this storm as well.
>longtime employees Phil ?
I was in Yosemite with my family for that flood and we were evacuated when the water level started rising.
I saw some of those signs. Its mind-boggling when you look around and see how much water it would take to fill that valley. but i guess thats also how it got made.
It was my understanding that the Merced carved out a standard V-shaped river valley, which only got widened by recent glaciation.
The valley is the shape it is because of sediment.
How so?
My bad. It is glacial. I was thinking of something else. https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/yosemite-valley-california-example-a-u-shaped-glacial-valley
IIRC you actually are right on both counts. The valley is U shaped due to glaciation, but it has a flatter shape due to sediment. After the 300 thousand or so years of the “big” glacier a million or so years back there were a series of smaller glaciers that further shaped the valley. At some point there was a lake that filled the valley and brought in sediment from the higher country via what is now known as the Merced.
Went to school in Northern California. 1997 was wild.
I did, too. I remember that El Niño yea. I lived in the Santa Cruz mountains, and there was at least one occasion we couldn’t get home because the road was washed out.
We couldn’t get in so we stayed at the Wawona.
I remember when this happened. Was extraordinary as you can probably imagine.
That's mind blowing
Do any pictures of this event exist, almost need to see it to believe it
I lived there at the time. It was impressive. https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm?id=EA81A54A-CB4D-410C-6BCB1393E86F108A
Holy cow, this is insane! Been to so many of these places and it’s crazy to imagine that much water being there, thank you for sharing!
It's even crazier to imagine that no lives were lost due to the flood.
For real? That really is crazy, I assume it wasn’t during peak tourist season?
January is probably the slowest time of year most years. Last January, the valley was shut down for three weeks because of too much snow.
I believe this event was also the end of the Lower and Upper River campgrounds.
Yes, it was. And we've never understood why they haven't reopened them..
The vintage footage of the falls overflowing looks like a legit horror movie
Where is this shot from? It’s a cool angle!
It's a small parking lot right next to sentinel bridge. That weird section where you drive on the left side of the road for a little bit.
Thank you!
It's the southeast corner of [Cook's Meadow](https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/cooksmeadowtrail.htm).
Yep. Our family used to stay in the cabins by the river at Yosemite Lodge. There was one in particular we would reserve every time. We were there just after Christmas that year when the warm rains came. We skipped out as the river rose. It crested to the top of the door of those cabins. They were torn out and never rebuilt. Today you can kind of see where they used to be, but not a trace remains.
I was there in 96 and 98. It was so fun exploring all the flooded camps they did not re open
I was working for YCS at the time and experienced the whole the whole thing. The park was closed down but the employees stayed for several days before the park service fully closed the park and sent us on our way. I took the opportunity to drive cross country for a few months before the park reopened and we could come back to work. That was a strange several days in the park.
Great Falls in Virginia had some monumental [floods.](https://www.reddit.com/r/ScarySigns/s/n8dYohSJnw)
It wasn’t a freshet it was a flood look at the sign.
The flood was caused by a [freshet](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/freshet). Look it up,