We began our hike fairly late in the day—around 1:30pm. The car’s thermostat said the temperature had dropped from 45 to 29 between Highway 101 and the trailhead. It definitely felt cold at the start. At the trailhead, everything was dusted in snow and frost, and the first couple hundred yards of the hike were icy. But after that, the trail was mostly snow free until the quarter mile closest to Lena Lake. Along the way, we had peekaboo views west deeper into the peninsula, plus some fall colors. We warmed up after the initial switchbacks, and the late afternoon sun helped too!
We made it to the lake overlook by 3pm, enjoyed the view, then hustled back to the car by 4pm. We had enough daylight to easily negotiate the trail, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be out there much later. We had our Christmas tree permit with us, so on the drive back to 101 we kept an eye out for promising trees, but no such luck.
This was a great cold-weather hike, given that the trail was mostly snow free and the lake is always beautiful. I’m sure we’ll continue coming up here as the winter weather makes other trails in the area harder to access.
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