Photo Essay: Bash Bish Falls

On an excursion to the Hudson Valley to visit Mike, we wanted to climb Overlook Mountain to snoop around some ruins, but the threat of thunderstorms was too severe to embark on the three-hour, two-mile steep hike out of cell phone range.

We asked Mike what else there was to do outdoors that wouldn't leave us stranded on the highest point should lightning start to strike.

"Have you ever been to Bash Bish Falls?" Mike asked us.

We liked the idea of being the lowest point and surrounded by water in the coming storm, so we said, "Let's go."

The 3/4 mile hike to the falls starts in Taconic State Park near the easternmost border of New York State, an area with plenty of trails and other outdoorsy destinations (like the perhaps better-known Copake Falls).





Soon you cross over into Massachusetts for Bash Bish Falls State Park.



After a cool, shady walk along an ascending ridge, with the sound of running water in the distance, you reach a steep, stone staircase that takes you down to the falls.





It's peaceful and empty down there, but it is not quiet, with the bifurcated falls crashing into the pool below. (No swimming allowed but apparently people do anyway when it's warmer out.)

You are surrounded by trees. And rocks.





And one tiny purple flower, sprouting up from the wet, interstitial earth between the boulders.



If you're not going to get into the falls (which we did not), the only thing left to do is climb back up.



It always feels steeper going up than on the way down.

It did not rain until much later in the day, allowing us to fit one more local trip in...

....To be continued.

To become a fan on Facebook, click here.