Bridalveil Fall (Yosemite)

Infobox Waterfall
name = Bridalveil Fall

---

caption = Base of Bridalveil Fall
location = Yosemite Valley, Yosemite NP, California, USA
type = Plunge
height = convert|188|m|ft
number_drops = 1
average_flow =
world_rank = 431

Bridalveil Fall is one of the most prominent waterfalls in the Yosemite Valley in California, seen yearly by millions of visitors to Yosemite National Park. [The official name is singular, see Gnis|257449|Bridalveil Fall.]

The Ahwahneechee tribe believed that Bridalveil Fall was home to a vengeful spirit named Pohono which guarded the entrance to the valley, and that those leaving the valley must not look directly into the waterfall lest they be cursed. They also believed inhaling the mist of Bridalveil Fall would improve one's chances of marriage.

Bridalveil Fall is convert|188|m|ft flows year round. [cite web | title=Things to see | work=Yosemite National Park | url=http://www.nps.gov/yose/trip/inyose.htm | accessdate=2005-09-20 ] The glaciers that carved Yosemite Valley left many hanging valleys which spawned the waterfalls that pour into the valley. All of the waterways that fed these falls carved the hanging valleys into steep cascades with the exception of Bridalveil Fall. Bridalveil still leaps into the valley from the edge of the precipice, although that edge has moved back into an alcove from the original edge of the valley. While Yosemite Falls seem to also fall into this category, the original course took the Yosemite Creek down a gorge to the west of its current location. [cite web | author=N. King Huber | title=The Geologic Story of Yosemite Valley | work=USGS Western Region Geologic Information | url=http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/geologic_story_of_yosemite/ | accessdate=2008-09-16] The primary source of Bridalveil Falls is Ostrander Lake, some convert|16|km|mi to the south. flows from a U-shaped hanging valley that was created by a tributary glacier.

When the wind blows briskly, the waterfall will appear to be falling "sideways". During lesser water flow the falls often don't reach the ground. Because of this, the Ahwahneechee Native Americans called this waterfall "Pohono", which means "Spirit of the Puffing Wind". [cite book | last=Kroeber | first=A.L. | coauthors= | title=Indians of Yosemite | location=Berkeley | publisher=California Indian Library Collections [distributor] | year=1993 | isbn=58867540 | url=http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/handbook_of_yosemite_national_park/indians.html| accessdate=2008-09-16]

ee also

* Yosemite Firefall
* List of waterfalls

References

External links

* [http://thehive.modbee.com/?q=node/1743 Story of Bridalveil Fall, Pohono Indian legend.]