Double Rainbow (viral video)

"Double Rainbow" is a viral video filmed by Paul "Bear" Vasquez (died May 9, 2020). The clip, filmed in 2010 in his front yard just outside Yosemite National Park in California, shows his ecstatic reaction to a double rainbow. As of January 2026, Vasquez's video had accumulated more than 52 million views on YouTube.

Biography

Vasquez was a native of East Los Angeles, initially working for the California Conservation Corps and later becoming a Los Angeles County firefighter. After two years, he re-settled in Yosemite in 1985, eventually buying an eight-acre (3.2 ha) plot. He was married with two children, before divorcing, becoming a truck driver, and participating in a single mixed martial arts bout.

Vasquez lived on a forested property outside Mariposa, California, approximately 10 miles (16 km) from Yosemite, where he operated a farm with the help of passing volunteers and uploaded videos of his daily life. Vasquez was a prolific uploader, publishing several thousand videos during his lifetime. In a 2019 video, he mentioned uploading fifteen years' worth of videos dated in advance, leaving his YouTube channel still active as of 2026.

In a 2014 interview, Vasquez stated he was a very spiritual person, and that 'the video is me understanding that I'm in the presence of God'. He clarified that he is not religious, as he does not believe in 'intermediaries'. Vasquez claimed that before the incident, he had been attempting to live as a starving artist and was in a deep depression, having quit his job six years prior. The success of the video had allowed him to live comfortably again.