Bench Lake

For our second hike of the weekend we hiked out to Bench Lake from the Bald Mountain Trailhead.  The Trailhead starts at 10,720' and the trail goes downhill first, which isn't optimal, but we decided some days in Nepal we will start out going downhill.  The hike is just gorgeous.  We passed Clegg Lake (about 1.5 miles in) and then Notch Lake (about 2.3 miles in) and finally Bench Lake (at 3.4 miles in).  Notch Lake was the listed hike in the book, but we thought Bench Lake was prettier and worth the extra mile.

Trailhead Elevation:  10,720 feet
Lowest Elevation:  9,945 feet
Total Elevation Gain:  775 feet
Total Distance:  7 miles
Total Time:  3:30 hours