Upper Lena Lake, August 2, 2013

On my day off I decided to visit Upper Lena Lake. The hike to Lower Lena Lake is an easy saunter taken by crowds of people, but getting to Upper Lena Lake is another matter.

I left home by 6:10 and got to the trailhead by 7:55. It was cool and cloudy, and I sailed up the lower switchbacks to Lower Lena Lake, arriving at 9:15.

There's a nice trail on lower switchbacks

After that, the going gets tougher. The trail gets rough and nasty, and it climbs rapidly. The timber looks slashy and broken as if the valley is perpetually tormented by an evil windstorm demon. The higher you go, the more tortured the trail becomes, with roots and rocks crowding out the foot path.

Roots in the trail

Rocky stream crossing

Finally I got high enough up to enter the upper meadows. It was too cloudy and foggy to see very far, but I could make out jagged peaks around me.

Upper meadows

At 12:15 I reached the lake. It was shrouded with wisps of clouds and as soon as I finished lunch it started to rain. The place seemed foreboding and grim. I wonder what it would have looked like if I had come on a sunny day?

Mount Bretherton above the lake

Upper Lake Lena

 It continued to rain on the way down. I had a fleece vest and my gore-tex parka, and I was glad for both of them. I made it back to the car at the trailhead at 4:00 and started for home. Katy had a roast with carrots and sweet potatoes waiting for me. Oh, the good life!