Every year, there’s a temporal waterfall seemingly flowing with lava down the east side of El Capitan, the massive granite formation in Yosemite Park, California. Only people at the right place and time are able to see it.
It’s called the Horsetail Fall. And, of course, there’s no magma involved. It’s an optical effect produced by Earth’s angle in relation to the sun and the geographical position of the waterfall itself.
The Horsetail is a seasonal waterfall that only happens in the winter and early spring. At sunset, during a few days in February, the water seems to turn into a cascade of lava under the rays of our home star. The colour varies in intensity depending on time and weather conditions.
The photo above was just taken by Bethany Gediman, from the Yosemite National Park Service, but the optical phenomenon was first recorded in the photo below by Galen Rowell in 1973. [Daily Mail]