The Valley Advocate, July 22 - 28, 2004

Bash Bish: Splish Splash

by Andrew Varnon

They’re nature’s own sound and light shows, and there are plenty of them in the Valley. A new book points the way to the waterfalls near you.

Waterfalls of Massachusetts

Guidebook, text and photographs by Joseph Bushee Jr. Amherst: New England Cartographics, 2004. Paperback; 168 pages, $15.95.

My wife and I have a thing for waterfalls. It’s probably not uncommon. There’s something about waterfalls – maybe it’s the rushing sound they make, or the ever-changing tresses of the falling stream, the prismatic mist or the clear pool. We spent our honeymoon in the mountains of North Carolina. It rained quite a bit and we used that to our advantage: to see invigorated mountain streams tumble and drop in cascades and falls.

Earlier this spring, we took a pilgrimage to the southwestern corner of the state: the town of Mount Washington, home of the state’s most dramatic waterfall, Bash Bish Falls. The Bash Bish Brook falls 80 feet between it’s upper and lower falls split by a massive rock into two falls. There’s a story told about the falls concerning a Mohican maiden, a lover, a white butterfly and a double suicide. Like I said, there’s something about them.

So when a book arrived in my mailbox on the day of my first anniversary, detailing 55 hikes to waterfalls in Massachusetts, I figured it was a good omen. Waterfalls of Massachusetts by Joseph Bushee Jr. gives maps, photos and directions to waterfalls across the state, from Bash Bish on the New York border to Powwow River Falls in Amesbury on the North Shore. Published by Chris Ryan’s New England Cartographics out of Amherst, the book is a treasure map with 55 new discoveries charted out in dotted lines and arrows on the U. S. Geological Survey’s topographic canvas. And 19 of them are right here in the Connecticut River Valley.

I can’t say that I’ve field-tested the book yet, but my wife and I are certainly looking forward to it. Thanks Joe.

Waterfalls of Massachusetts: An Explorers Guide to 55 Natural Scenic Wonders. By Joseph Bushee Jr. Amherst: New England Cartographics, 2003.

avarnon@valleyadvocate.com