Lena Lake — Sunday, May. 10, 1998

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal

My first overnight hike! Lena lake proved to be the perfect destination. The trail was in great condition -- only one or two very slightly muddy parts despite recent rain. We camped at the northwest end of the lake (campsite #9) and I believe we had the lake to ourselves overnight. We saw maybe 6 people on the trail on the way up, and passed maybe 15 people on the way down. There were MANY (20+) car break-ins the weekend before we got there, so we just left the car doors unlocked. Hey, they're going to get in anyway... but everything was where we left it when we got back. Weather was decent -- no rain while we were hiking, a slight mist while eating dinner, and heavy rains while we were safely slumbering in the tent. I carried about 60 pounds for this overnighter. Needless to say, I'm going to revise my packing strategy for the next trip (granted, I was carrying 10-15 lbs of camera gear...). Happy trails!