Left trailhead at 8:45 this fine Thursday morning with five cars in the lot. Weather forecast called for the day to be excellent, sandwiched in between two fronts that promised socked-in conditions.
The moist grade to Lena went by fast. The trail to the upper lake was in great shape, fairly muddy in more places than I expected. Lots of water. The stream crossing just before the upper lake was a rock hop, though the bedrock sidehill on the downhill side was tricky-slippery in the wet morning conditions. Heavy vegetation in open areas made it hard to see my feet here and there. Some flowers out in meadowy areas as the lake is approached.
I reached the lake after about 3 hours of chugging. Beautiful (see photo)! Only one campsite was in use when I arrived. After continuing along the up and down path around the north side of the lake, I sauntered up the Scout Lake trail a bit, up to the small basin containing a long/narrow/shallow lakelet. A perch on a large rock afforded views all around and made a nice lunch and turnaround spot. I jockeyed around to face the slight breeze that helped keep the pesky mosquitos at bay (annoying, but not seriously bad). Repellent, sunscreen, and sweat - nice mixture indeed.
Started to descend from my high point at 2:30 and exited the lake about 3. Three other parties were settling into camps as I passed by. Got to the car at 6.
A great mid-week trip.
Comments