Little Studies in the Yosemite Valley. 95 



This discussion of the winds of the Yosemite Valley 

 would scarcely be complete without a word about the 

 breezes that play near the great waterfalls. Each of these, 

 it will be remembered, leaps from the mouth of an elevated 

 hanging valley. At night, when the down-valley currents 

 are organized, the stream issuing from each of these 

 valleys plunges down over the cliff very much like a 

 waterfall. Few people probably are aware of the exist- 

 ence of these — shall we call them "air falls" ? Never- 

 theless, they are by no means imaginary, as one may 

 readily find out by ascending either the Yosemite Falls 

 trail or the Nevada Falls trail in the evening. The 

 writer had occasion to do so many times when returning 

 to his high-level camps above the valley, and the unpleas- 

 ant memory of the chilling downdrafts that poured upon 

 him on these evening trips is with him yet. During the 

 daytime, on the other hand, the air rises vertically along 

 the cliffs and up into the hanging valleys, taking part of 

 the spray from the falls along with it. A pretty example 

 of this may be seen at the Bridal Veil Falls, where two 

 little combs of spray, one on each side of the stream, 

 steadily curve upward over the brink. As soon as the 

 sun is off the cliff, however, they at once cease to exist. 



Many other features about the valley that find their 

 explanation in the wind system here outlined might be 

 added, but the foregoing will suffice to direct attention 

 to them. 



