Places: CA-Yosemite Falls

Yosemite Falls (Yosemite)
(37°45′18″N 119°35′50″W)

Description:
“As the ‘High Fall,’ near which we were encamped, appeared to be the principal one of the Sierras, and was the fall par excellence, I gave that the name of ‘Yosemite Falls,’ and in so naming it I but followed out the idea of the Indians who called it ‘Choolook’ or ‘Schoolook,’ which signifies in this case ‘The Fall,’ while the creek appeared to be known to some as ‘Scho-tal-lo-wi,’ interpreted to mean ‘the creek of the fall’.” (Bunnell: Discovery of the Yosemite, 1880, pp. 201-202.)

C. Hart Merriam gives the Indian name as “Ah-wah'ning chu'luk-ah-hu, slurred to Cho'luk” (S.C.B., 1917, X:2, p. 205.) Stephen Powers says Cho'lok is the generic name for “fall.” ( Tribes of California, in Contributions to North American Ethnology, III, 1877, p. 363.)

“Here we began to encounter in our path, many small streams which would shoot out from under these high snow-banks, and after running a short distance in deep chasms which they have through ages cut in the rocks, precipitate themselves from one lofty precipice to another, until they are exhausted in rain below. Some of these precipices appeared to us to be more than a mile high.” (Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard, Written by Himself, Clearfield, Pa., 1839, reprinted and edited by W. F. Wagner, Cleveland, 1904, p. 174.) This description from Leonard’s journal of 1833, when he accompanied Joseph R. Walker’s party across the Sierra, appears to refer to Yosemite Falls, and if so, is the first description of any feature of Yosemite. (Farquhar: Exploration of the Sierra Nevada, in California Historical Society Quarterly, March, 1925, IV:1, p. 7.)

[Editor’s note: today historians generally believe the Walker party looked down The Cascades, which are just west of Yosemite Valley, instead of Yosemite Valley itself.—dea]

Place Names of the High Sierra (1926) by Francis P. Farquhar

Trips:

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• November 11, 2015 - Meetup day hike around the East end of the Valley 
• October 1, 2016 -  Meetup hike around the west end of Yosemite Valley 
•  March 10, 2018 - Day hike around the east end of Yosemite Valley with Meetup group 
• May 10, 2023 -  Part of the grand tour of the Valley with Jessi, Sherri and Gary
  

Pictures:

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References:

•  NPS Waterfall site
• Wikipedia
• DNC Yosemite Falls site
• Trail to Upper Yosemite Falls
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