Atop Bassi Falls - with Video

When we hiked at Bassi Falls last weekend of course we also climbed to the top of the falls! A trip to Bassi Falls isn't complete without hoofing it up through the forest to the edge of the granite ridge, then scrambling up the bare slickrock. The views at the top make it all worth it.

Watch on YouTube

I've sticked together this video, just under 2 minutes, from a few short clips I recorded from different vantage points atop the falls.

Where to Next? Check the SMUD Map.

After we visited Bassi Falls, below the falls and above the falls, and drove back out the road with the challenging short hill climb at the end— people walking up the dirt 4x4 path expressed amazement at us so easily driving down it— the question was where to go next.

The area we were in is called the Crystal Basin. Or at least that's the name given to it by SMUD. And it contains a lot more than just Bassi Falls. And SMUD is kind enough to provide a pamphlet with a map.



SMUD, by the way, is the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Yes, the Crystal Basin is an area developed by a power-and-water company. The reservoirs up here in the mountains are dammed to provide drinking and farming water, plus a bit of hydroelectric power generation, to people below in California's Central Valley.

So, what else will we do today in the Crystal Basin? We check the map.



We figure we'll visit Robb's Hut, and old fire lookout with a cabin next to it, and then maybe Gerle Creek. Or maybe Horsetail Falls back out on US 50. Horsetail isn't on this map. It's further east, in the Crystal Range Mountains on the edge of the Desolation Wilderness.