Widows Tears (Yosemite National Park, California, USA)

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Widows Tears

The elusive Widow's Tears seen near the Pohono Bridge

Widows Tears suffers from a case of mistaken identity with the neighboring Silver Strand Falls. Many observers (including myself) knew that Silver Strand Falls couldn't be the often-quoted 1170ft unless they counted the watercourse that you couldn't see below Hwy 41. In older Yosemite literature, Silver Strand Falls was also called Widow's Tears (probably by the same guy who once named Ribbon Falls "Virgin's Tears"). After sifting through the fog of misinformation, I tend to think it's Widow's Tears that's 1170ft.

Even with all that said about its gaudy height numbers, this is really an ephemeral waterfall with a real short season. To see it, you have to time your visit and know where to look. And given its paltry flow, it's even harder to photograph. However, in the Winter, I have seen trip reports of people ice climbing, and we must say that the ice that accumulates makes this falls look wider than it really is.

I once overheard a tour operator tell a story about a widow who couldn't stop crying after losing her husband. It wasn't until after she saw this waterfall that she stopped crying - hence the waterfall's name. I'm not sure if this is true, but it is quite a story.

Directions: To get a view of this elusive ephemeral waterfall, look for an unsigned pullout on the Route 140 just west of the Pohono Bridge. It's east of the Route 120/140 junction so you went too far if you made it there.

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