A reply would come back from above.
“Are you ready, Camp Curry?”
Camp Curry yelled back in reply.
“Let the fire fall!”
High up at Glacier Point the living embers slowly began to fall while red and gold sparks flew off like stars.
This is what Dad remembered about our first camping trip as a family to Yosemite National Park and the firefall.
It was quite an experience taking the children on their first camping trip to Yosemite National Park. We did a lot of hiking on the trails that led up to the waterfalls. At that time, there weren’t as many people that went to Yosemite.
Tame bears and deer came into the campgrounds.
Each night the park rangers would have a firefall program for the campers. At Camp Curry, there was an amphitheater with a stage. Campers would start gathering on the benches around 6pm. Rangers would tell stories about the park and put on a show. There was live music, comedians and other kinds of entertainment.
Above Camp Curry, on Glacier Point, park workers would stack the bark of trees into a large pile. Just before dark, the bark would be set on fire.
Around 9pm, rangers at Camp Curry and Glacier Point would start hollering back and forth to each other, ending with, “Let the fire fall”.
Two men on top of the mountain with long handled rakes would slowly push the coals over the side of the mountain.
It looked just like a waterfall, only the falls were red with fire and sparks. The falls lasted about five or ten minutes.
It was really a sight to see.
As the last spark burned itself out, we all headed back to our campsite to roast marshmallows to end a very memorable day.
Posted by Judy
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