vernal falls yosemite valley
Named vernal, for springtime, because the canyon below the falls is kept lush and green all year by spray, this falls is broad and square, in contrast to the horsetail plumes of most of the other falls in Yosemite. It forms the bottom step of the Giant Staircase that begins with Nevada Falls and is so striking when viewed from Washburn Point (next to Glacier Point). Because, like Nevada just above, it is on the main stem of the Merced River, Vernal never dries up, though the roaring torrent of spring diminishes to a filmy curtain by late summer.
