Lehamite Falls

Lehamite Falls is found directly behind Yosemite Village within Yosemite National Park. The falls are best seen at a distance and can be easily seen from Leidig and Cooks Meadows, as well as from parts of Yosemite Village itself. Approaching the base of the falls would involve scrambling about three-quarters of a mile up Indian Canyon, a task which also involves gaining about 1300 feet in elevation.Lehamite Falls is a small volume waterfall located in a tributary gully to Indian Canyon near Yosemite Village in Yosemite National Park. The falls cascade a total of 1,180 feet down a slot in the granite cliff, first starting as rugged cascades with multiple distinct steps (how many is difficult to tell) and culminating in a horsetailing fall. Because it is difficult to approach the bottom of Lehamite Falls, the specifics of its shape and character are not known beyond what can be seen from the meadows in Yosemite Valley. Lehamite Creek drains from a small area to the west of Indian Ridge, and while the drainage basin has not been scoured out by glaciers such that there is soil to retain groundwater, the volume of Lehamite Creek is consistently insignificant and the falls usually run dry by the end of July as a result.According to Lafayette Bunnell, among those who discovered Yosemite Valley, Le-ham-i-te, meaning "arrow wood", was a term the Native American population in the valley used for Indian Canyon. When the name Indian Canyon was applied to its current feature, the title of Lehamite eventually drifted to the falls and creek adjacent. James Hutchings had suggested the name "Little Winkle" for the falls at one point and though it apparently appear on several maps under that title, the name never took.