Bassi Falls

The road was clear all the way up to the trail head. I didn't want to hike from Ice House road, instead, I wanted to see if there was a good route off trail to the top of the falls...and then try going upstream.

Just before the trail turned right and started dropping Commando and I forged off into the pine forest. I could see some brush ahead, but thought that the pines would keep the brush to a minimum. Wrong! We worked our way through rabbit brush and mesquite picking up many scratches in the process. We finally made it down to the upper part of the falls by following a rough and (mostly) dry creek.

I enjoyed the first of my two sandwiches just lazing on the granite and looking at the view and listening to the falls. Commando ran around and smelled stuff. A family was a bit upstream (still on the granite) and asked if there was a trail down. I said no and they said they'd bushwhack back down just like they'd gotten up.

After studying the terrain a bit I decided to head straight up the granite face and then hope there was a trail through the brush covering the ridge. I had to admit, it looked pretty impenetrable.

After climbing up (and then relaxing some more) I saw a guy coming from upstream but close to Bassi Creek. I started back down and he was soon joined by his pal. I thought, hey, they look like they know what they're doing! Wrong.

I headed upstream until we got to a tiny creek. The decomposed granite is a little hard to track through (or maybe the guys had never gotten this far) so I had to choose staying on "my" side of the tiny creek or crossing it to Bassi Creek side. Both ways looked choked with brush. Unfortunately, I chose the Bassi Creek side. I soon lost any hope of a trail and just scrambled through the brush (tearing holes in my shirt) and really hoping I didn't break a leg.

There was a small waterfall that I could almost see. In the summer, it will be possible to just hike up the granite, but I had no wish to be swept downstream in icy water. After much more bushwhacking, I made it back to the granite.

I was a bit tired so decided to head down to the lower area as fast as possible as it's all granite and then a nice trail. At this point, if I never see another mesquite it will be too soon.

Naturally there's no trail so there was more bush scratching, except this time with a steep drop over what is essentially a brushy cliff to keep me paying attention. I actually had to help Commando down at one point.

We made it back and I soaked my feet in one of the icy rivulets before making the final push to the car. It really was a beautiful day and I'll look forward to hiking this again in the summer (and maybe with a machete).

Oh, the dog in this link looks just like Commando, except he doesn't have a tail. She's even got the running bug!