On this trip we decided to explore the east end of the bench trail and take in some views. The circadas were everywhere and very loud. It certainly added to our hiking experience. Another thing that made this hike interesting was that we saw a bear cross the road about 50 yards in front of us as we were walking down the road to get to the trail head. The trail was, at least in parts, almost overgrown with vegetation and we were constantly looking out for snakes.