The Bench

The weather forecast was finally right on the money and we had a beautiful day for our hike to “the bench”.  This hike was 10 miles round trip with a 1500 foot elevation gain so we wanted to get an early start.  That was a little hard to do since this was the 4th day in a row to be out and about.  Somehow we managed to be at the trailhead about 8 AM.

The trail was damp, but considering all the rain we have had in the past week, it had drained nicely.  Once we got near the top, we were not surprised to run into a little snow, but the trail was mostly clear.

We had no idea what “the bench” was, but we had heard it offered some of the best views of Lake Tahoe.  We wanted to see, of course.  I think I had in my mind that the bench would be just that--a park bench to sit upon and enjoy the view.  There was no “bench”.  What we found was the flat top of the mountain, perhaps a half mile in length from where the trail crested the ridge to where it started down the other side.  There were several large rock outcroppings dotting the edge.  We stopped at the first one we came to.  The views truly were spectacular from our high perch 2500 feet above Lake Tahoe.

The temperature at that elevation (about 8500 feet) was chilly and the steady wind made it down right cold.  We put on hats, coats, and gloves then snuggled in close to the rock out of the wind.  With the sun shining that was a rather cozy place for lunch even though we didn’t have the great view from that angle.

The trip back to the truck was easy, mostly down hill.  But 10 miles is 10 miles and my feet hurt and my legs are tired.  Whatever I do this evening, it will be from the recliner.

Tomorrow we will stick pretty close to home I suspect.