In the summer ( maybe late summer this year) there are 5 or 6 creek crossings on the trail. Yesterday there were more like 20 with some areas where the trail itself was a creek. On we pressed making it to 5 miles quickly with only spotty snow on the trail. We came to a fairly steep slope we had to get across that required us to break trail in the snow that covered the trail. It was a tense time and at the end of the snow section we had to jump 3 feet down to the trail. From there the trail became steep. We learned later that the last mile had 1600 feet of elevation gain.
We found occasional trail markers in the trees and needed my GPS as well as Terry's GPS and the topographical maps we printed out to keep ourselves close to the trail. If not for Terry's memory of his last hike to the upper lake (11 years ago) and my GPS having Topo maps of the National Parks so I could see when we were getting closer to the picture of the lake we would have had to turn back.
We finally made it to the lake in 7.44 miles - a little more than the route is supposed to be. Here is what Upper Lena Lake looked like as of 7/9/2011.
This is probably a good time to mention that the last trail report I read said that if you were going to the upper lake you should have crampons and an ice ax. In hindsight, that would have been appropriate.
As proud as we were to break trail and find our way to the lake, we were quickly reminded of the downside of breaking a trail in an area where you could get into a lot of trouble without proper equipment. We ran into about 20 people who had followed our tracks up to within .8 of a mile to the lake. We were able to accurately explain what they were looking at and turned most of them around with the exception of a lone female backpacker with no snow gear who asked if we had cell service as she wanted to make a reservation for a camp site at the upper lake. We explained that we wouldn't attempt it without an ice ax and she said she had a hatchet and would go another 1/2 hour and maybe turn back.
The total hike turned out to be 14.6 miles and took just under 10 hours! Needless to say, we are wrecked today. We will take it easy and make our way to Art on the Ave later today to stretch our legs out.
In the summer when the trail is clear I would say that Upper Lena Lake is a strenuous day hike for experienced hikers, and in the snow it is a large challenge for well equipped, experienced hikers. We will likely return for an overnight stay as there are 2 or 3 peaks you can climb from Upper Lena Lake.
Enjoy your Sunday!
More soon.....
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