Circle the Cirque Crest

Arrow Peak over Bench Lake. Yes, it is real. If you are reading this and it is summer, then this view is waiting for you every morning while you go about your day to day life. This is one of the great jewels of the Sierra, and few people visit it. Fish or swim in the cold waters, climb Arrow Peak, stroll to the nearby lakes, or just sit and try to memorize just one moment in time, here in this Sierra paradise.

Bench Lake

Circle The Cirque Crest - By D.W.Donehoo (All rights reserved)

Soon we were at the Bench Lake trail junction and motoring our way to the lake with all possible speed, once again leaving the crowds behind. Bench Lake, and now Marion Lake, are two of my favorite lakes in the Sierra, and ranks as national treasures, so we were both very pleased to be returning to this jewel of the Sierra. The trail crosses a large grassy open area then enters forest to lose a bit of altitude. The trail passes a large meadow to the left, crosses a moderately large stream, and meanders over slab granite and tree studded terrain. One has an impression of gold's and whites as one passes through this vast granite bench, and this is further complimented by lakes and ponds as one approaches the main body of water owned by Bench Lake. Our steps quickened in anticipation of reaching the lake and our favorite campsite, hoping nobody else had claimed it. Finally, we reached the shortcut to the camp, and we had it, and the lake it turned out, to ourselves.

The camp is at a spectacular spot with a fantastic view of Arrow Peak over the waters of Bench Lake, but the campsite itself was a little worse for wear due to the Parks current Foolish Policy. There are no fires allowed above 10,000 feet, even though there is ample deadfall from the thick forest on the Bench Lake bench, which just encourages unneeded fires. Few people visit the lake due to the remote location of the lake, and the Park may even be tempted to do a proscribed burn there someday. No matter, when Rangers find a fire-ring, they scatter the scorched rocks around the campsite. Somebody else comes along, builds a new fire-ring, the Ranger comes back, and then there are a few more scorched rocks in the area. This process is repeated until the campsite is littered with a plethora of unsightly scorched rocks. This policy is right up there with shoveling ashes from fire pits and scattering them beneath trees to the point campgrounds begin to look like battlefields. Are these policies really environmentally sound? Whatever, the campsite had been noticeably degraded from last time I had been there, mainly due to the uprooted, scorched and then scattered rocks, complimented by a layer of scattered soot, ashes, and burnt wood. A violated wilderness.