A massive rockfall sheers away from the rock face from where it has resided for eons of time and flattens hundreds of towering pine trees as if they were matchsticks. Torrential rains flood Yosemite Valley carrying away roads and vehicles as if they were miniature toys in a bathtub. Sunlight and water join together to illuminate a granite wall of Yosemite Valley, transforming it into the appearance of bright orange flames. These awe-inspiring events bring people from around the world to witness Yosemite’s power and to subject themselves to its mesmerizing ways.
Viewing such powerful events offers no guarantee that we will be able to adequately describe the experience to others so they too can revel in the breathtaking affair. Occasionally, a fortuitous photographer will freeze a moment in time and share it with those not fortunate to see such phenomena, especially those who live far away and cannot visit the Park. Almost 25% of Yosemite’s visitors are first-time visitors and stay in the park for only short periods, minimizing the chances of seeing something truly strange or unusual. The more time one spends in the Park, the more opportunities exist to sense its display of power and spectacular moments.
Michael Frye, the talented landscape photographer, spends a lot of time in Yosemite awaiting the opportunity to witness and record such rare events. For example, a November 1, 2021 entry on his website points to how painstakingly long it can be to successfully produce an award-winning photograph. He recently had two photographs win awards in the inaugural Natural Landscape Photography Awards competition.
He titled his first-place entry for the Grand Landscape category, “El Capitan Emerging from Clouds.” In describing the time required to capture the ‘El Capitan’ photo, he says, “I had visited this view of El Capitan on perhaps a dozen occasions, hoping for some exceptional light. Usually, I had gone home disappointed. But on this March afternoon, after a small snow squall moved through the valley, I was treated to some of the most beautiful light and mist I’ve ever seen on El Cap.” (Emphasis added) His winning photo can be found by clicking here.
His stunning portrait of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley has been preserved for all to see. And, it’s the picture that provides the thousand words that we may not be able to produce due to the inadequacies of language to communicate the impact of nature’s creative forces at work.
Occasionally, the English language does provide the words to accurately describe nature’s creative forces. For example, meteorologists use the term “Atmospheric River” to describe the huge volumes of water that move about the earth like a conveyor belt as part of the water cycle.
Atmospheric rivers, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), can be described as “relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere – like rivers in the sky – that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics. These columns of vapor move with the weather, carrying an amount of water vapor roughly equivalent to the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River. When the atmospheric rivers make landfall, they often release this water vapor in the form of rain or snow.”
Satellite images demonstrate how accurately the term “Atmospheric River” describes this massive flow of water (see above). At times, in the western United States, California becomes the beneficiary of these atmospheric rivers. Because they originate in the warmer waters in the tropics near Hawaii, these atmospheric rivers have come to collect a name that the English language also capably expresses: the “Pineapple Express.” When combined with storm systems from the Pacific Northwest, they produce extreme weather events with record amounts of rain and snow.
Infographic Below Courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
That is what occurred during October 24/25, 2021. SFGate.com reported that “Donner Summit just broke its record for the most precipitation in the month of October, according to a tweet from the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab. This record counts both rain and snow. The previous record was set in 2016 when the lab measured 15.67 inches of precipitation. So far this October, the lab has counted 16 inches, setting a new high.”
Naturally, being ideally situated in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, Yosemite Falls benefited from the limitless reservoir of water that the Pineapple Express delivered during those two days. Upper Yosemite Fall regenerated itself from nothing to gnarly in a matter of hours.
Image Below Courtesy of Yosemite Conservancy and Halfdome.net
Its sudden transformation into unabated power and frothy white madness hurling down toward the Valley floor left me with few words to adequately describe the striking change. Certain English words do come to mind that identify particulars of the event, such as incredible, spectacular, remarkable, wonderful, stunning, strange, and exquisite. That large collection of words, however, communicates the experience most inefficiently. Perhaps one or two words could better capture its essence.
So, although the English language can rise to the occasion at times to accurately portray a vivid portrait of a natural event, such as in the term “Pineapple Express”, sometimes it fails to adequately perform. With that in mind, I will seek out another language to assist me in summarizing Yosemite Falls’ dramatic and attention-getting changeover.
What language might that be? To me, it seems to make sense to look no further than where the Pineapple Express originates, to the warmer waters of the North Pacific tropics, to Hawaii. With 0nly 13 letters, the Hawaiian language is one of efficiency and sets the standard of providing a word that entails all those noted above.
So, how does one say incredible, spectacular, remarkable, wonderful, stunning, strange, and exquisite in Hawaiian? “Kupaianaha”! That word adequately allows me to compensate for those speechless moments when the English language fails me. "Kupaianaha" splendidly captures the moment when the Pineapple Express bears down on the Sierra Nevada Mountain range and dumps its much-desired payload of rain and snow upon California and Yosemite. Kupaianaha supplies the means to gloriously shout when Yosemite Falls beaks its dormancy and comes to life for all to see. Watch the video below and join me in shouting, "Kupaianaha!”
Video Courtesy of Yosemite Conservancy and Halfdome.net
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