Ribbon Fall, located in Yosemite National Park in California, flows off a cliff on the west side of El Capitan, and is the largest single-drop waterfall in North America. The fall is fed by melting winter snow; while therefore dry for much of the year, the fall is a spectacular 1,612 feet (491 m) in the spring. In exceptional years, an ice cone develops at its base during the winter months similar to that which usually forms beneath Upper Yosemite Fall. This deposit can reach a depth of 200 feet, versus 322 feet for the greatest depth of the ice cone beneath the Upper Fall and Lower Fall. It is the tallest, continuous falls waterfall in the United States.
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The top of Ribbon Fall.
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Ribbon Fall as seen from its base. Note the ice cone.
Famous quotes containing the words ribbon and/or fall:
“I’ll tell you how the Sun rose--
A Ribbon at a time--”
—Emily Dickinson (1831–1886)
“The bay-trees in our country are all withered,
And meteors fright the fixèd stars of heaven.
The pale-faced moon looks bloody on the earth,
And lean-looked prophets whisper fearful change.
Rich men look sad, and ruffians dance and leap;
The one in fear to lose what they enjoy,
The other to enjoy by rage and war.
These signs forerun the death or fall of kings.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)