Wapama Falls Rainbow (29 of 366)

Wapama Falls Rainbow and Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

2016 Photo a Day, 29 of 366: Wapama Falls Rainbow and Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

The trail along the north edge of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir passes the base of Wapama Falls.  When the water is flowing and the wind is right you get a rainbow from the mist created by the waterfalls.  The above photo faces west and shows about 3/4ths of the 8 mile long Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.  This picture is from 2010 and shows the Reservoir at it’s full level.  I wanted to make it back there this past fall to see how low it was but timing didn’t work out, guess I’ll have to wait until spring.  Even with our El Nino rains, I’m not expecting to find the reservoir this full.  Though one can hope…

Coincidentally today is the day that a judge was set to hear oral arguments on the legal case to restore Hetch Hetchy Valley.  Personally I would love to see the original valley restored and this stolen national treasure (the valley does reside within Yosemite National Park) returned to the American people.  I do realize that even if that happened the valley fully restored is something that my kids might eventually see, my guess is it would take decades for the bath tub ring created by the reservoir to disappear.  Check out the link above to see photos of the valley before it was damned to get a sense of how far below water level the valley floor lies and to read up about the restoration movement.

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