South of the Ahwahnee Hotel
Yosemite National Park, California
The luxurious Ahwahnee Hotel occupies a choice site on the north side of Yosemite Valley. Behind it can be seen the Royal Arches Cascades, sliding down the steeply sloping cliffs. To the west Yosemite Falls is glimpsed through the forest. Directly ahead Glacier Point is framed in the trees -- the lighter streak near the top of the cliff marks the course of the famous "firefall". Every evening in years past, a bonfire was built at the brink of the cliff, then precisely at 8 pm the glowing coals were slowly shoved over the edge, forming a fiery plume as they dropped a thousand feet.