We decided to hike up to Bench Lake on our last morning. It was 46 degrees at 8:30 as we left the trailhead but knew that it would be warming up pretty quickly.
The Redfish Trail is 4 miles to the first lake and overlooks the lake from the west as we climbed above it. There weren't many boats out yet and a pretty quiet morning.
Before entering the Wilderness area, we were required to fill out a permit even for day use. If checked by a ranger and not have you part of the permit, the fine is $5000. We took the time to fill it out and tucked the yellow sheet in our pack.
I took so many pictures as we walked that it took 2 hours to walk 3 3/4 miles to the lake.
The smoke from the fires southwest of us gave a hazy view at times with occasional ash blowing our way when the wind would pick up.
Such a peaceful place for lunch for two as we listened to the birds and watched the fish jump. I guess you probably know, when the fish are jumping, the bugs are out. We stayed a while and used our bug spray.
Fortunately, the clouds came over as we were on our way back on the returning 3 3/4 miles would have been uncomfortable. We passed several people starting out as we were finishing at 1pm that had a small bottle of water and planned to walk to Bench Lake. I hope they were ok.
The trail was very dusty and dry and would poof like talcum powder with every step, sticking to the sunscreen on my legs..
Looks like we have a couple of long driving days ahead of us after changing our plans and staying in Idaho longer. The temps in Utah are heating up. On our way to Colorado where we started one year ago.
