bassi falls

I probably should be taking it easy, since I literally fainted into a face plant yesterday, but I figured a hike would be okay. I had already agreed to go on this hike to Bassi Falls, and it was supposedly a pretty easy hike. And anyways, I feel most recharged when I’m outdoors.

The hike from this parking lot to the waterfall is only about a half a mile. We had actually extended our hike by a few miles by parking at a lot further down the road and hiked along the dirt road to get here.

This is the beginning of the trail from the parking lot. You can hear the waterfall almost right from the beginning.

When you get close to the waterfall, the trail becomes a wide open space.

There’s a wide open space below the waterfall, nice for picnicking.

Closer view of the waterfall.

I was able to scramble up half way up the waterfall. It was pretty nice there. I decided to eat my lunch there. Big sandwich plus big Mike plus not so big waterfall makes for a pretty epic picture, don’t you think?

Here’s a 360 degree view from my lunch spot. My little waterproof camera is pretty crappy at shooting videos… Plus I’m pretty crappy at shooting videos, as evidenced by the fact that my finger is in the frame.

From where I scrambled up the waterfall, it looked like it was impossible to make it to the top of the waterfall. But actually there was a side trail up to the top that Mary knew about. Here’s a view from the top, looking over the edge of the waterfall. From here you can barely make out the tiny people sitting at the base of the falls.

Above the falls it’s all slickrock granite. Very cool, and a very nice place to camp at. I wouldn’t mind backpacking here someday, although it’s probably too short a hike to bother bringing all that gear.

I bought these barefoot minimalist hiking shoes when they were on sale. They’re called the Merrell Trail Glove. Honestly, I like my Vibram Five Fingers better. The Vibrams I have are the KSO versions, which stand for Keep Stuff Out. The problem with these Trail Gloves is that they don’t do a good job of keeping stuff out, which caused dirt and rocks to rub against my bare feet, causing blisters. I guess I’ll have to wear these with socks, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of buying these shoes…

Things I’m thankful for:

• Leisurely hikes
• Hiking buddies
• Vietnamese sandwiches