Backpacking at Lena Lake
This weekend Christine and I hiked in the Olympic National Forest up to Lena Lake. Christine hadn’t been backpacking in 6 or 7 years and this is a great hike to get back into things with. It starts with a moderate climb that is a little boring, but once you get to the top the trail meanders through nice forest for a couple of miles before coming to the massive Lena Lake. There are tons of campsites around the lake so even on a busy weekend (and it was busy this weekend) you can find a secluded spot. We found one on the north end of the lake a bit up from the water and well out of earshot of our nearest neighbor.
We made one trip to Lena Lake before, in May 2000. It was very interesting for me to constrast the lake conditions. The lake has 2 major streams that feed it, both on the north end. In 2000 both of these streams were dry and I hiked a couple of miles up one into the Brothers Wilderness. This year they were both flowing fastand loud. The lake itself was flooded by around 3-5′ and many of the lakeside camp sites were flooded.
Christine had a great time and asked me to remind her how relaxing and fun hiking and camping are whenever she tries to think of excuses for not going. This is good news for me because I’m hoping to go on at least one backpacking trip and one overnight bike camping trip per month through September.
That first photo of the lake is gorgeous!