This was a fun hike on an incredible weather day! With the almost non-stop rain and cold temperatures for as far back as I can remember, the appearance of a day both sunny and warm is ample incentive to hit the trail. Of course, this early in the season there’s nothing blooming and there’s still a lot of snow up high, but after wasting away all Spring I was ready to take what I could get, and quite happily too. There’s a paved Forest Service road leading right to the trailhead which is sort of a blessing and a curse. We arrived before 9am and there were already more than a dozen cars there. Some of those belonged to the Boy Scout Troop that overnighted; coming in Friday evening and packing out today. We made good time and ate lunch at the overlook high above lake, swapping cameras with another group for pictures, and then pressed down to the lake for a look (and I was out of water). This is where the curse became more apparent. The campsites had a lot of trash (not from the Boy Scouts though) and cigarette butts and even empty water/booze bottles were everywhere. I wouldn’t pick this as a destination for an overnighter on a bet. It’s really too bad because the lake is absolutely beautiful. There is a fee collection station at the trailhead, so if you don’t have a year pass, fill out the envelope and pay your $5. The trial is in good condition with only a few minor blow-downs to deal with. There was a huge log across the trail, one side tenuously resting against a small Alder on the uphill side. I pushed on the log a bit and it moved, so we decided to try to roll it off the trail. It was clear below, so I climbed up and held the Alder sapling out of the way while Jeff and John rocked the log until it rolled completely onto the trail, then we all rolled it off. We passed several parties coming in as we were walking out, and marveled at their lack of preparedness. Most carried nothing more than a bottle of water. Not to get on a soapbox here but...sheesh. How much does a water purification tablet weigh? Maybe a jacket? I keep trying to lighten my pack, which isn’t very heavy by any means, often thinking I carry too much, but in the end the basic contents pretty much remain the same; enough to survive a night or two (albeit very uncomfortably) should I be unable to make it out on my own. Enough of that. There’s not much else to report; it was perfect weather, a good hike, and nobody got hurt.

After reading the last trip report for Lena Lake (thebrink on April 9), we weren't sure what to expect as far as snow and ice went. Fortunately for us, the snow thawed in the bright sunshine on Saturday and we found ourselves only donning YakTrax for a short section on the way home on Sunday, when rain turned part of the trail into slush. There were only a few blowdowns and mudholes. The bugs started to get bad, then magically disappeared as it got chillier. All in all, this is a gorgeous hike and the trail is well maintained, including the bridges. The flowers are already starting to show up, which was an unexpected treat for this hiker - I usually end up doing late season hikes and miss them. It was tough going for the first hike of the season since I'm trying to shed my 'winter coat,' shall we say, but it was a lot of fun. We encountered a number of hikers, but only 4 parties stayed the night. We lucked out and got what another party called 'the site' on the lake and basked in the sun all day Saturday. Maybe I'm the only one to encounter this pitfall, but the turnoff for the 101 if you're coming from Seattle or Olympia seems poorly marked, so be sure to pay attention as you approach the turnoff to Shelton. We ended up in Aberdeen and spent Friday night at Lake Sylvia - which was a worthwhile sidetrip if you just want somewhere to sleep!

This is a great hike this time of year, no crowds, no bugs and comfortable temperature for hiking. The road to the trail head is paved and the trail tread is in good condition. We encountered snow on the trail about three quarters of the way along the lake on the northwest side but it was not enough to make it worthwhile getting the yak trax out. The south two thirds of the lake still has ice and the north end where Lena Creek flows into the lake is ice free.

Wasn't sure what the snow level was going to look like so I decided to give it a try as an excuse to get out on a day that was predicted to be 57 degree, partly sunny. Started off around 10:00am with 3-4 other vehicles at the trailhead. One pair of guys appeared to be setting off to camp overnight. I took my 10 and 7 year old along for the hike. Took just shy of 2 hours to get to the large rock overlooking the lake and about 1:45 to get back down. There was quite a bit of snow above 1500-1600 feet and beyond, just patches below this level. It was fair weather on the way up (quite a workout to keep warm). Stayed on the over-look for about 30 minutes or so for a snack break before we discovered a number of birds who were dive-bombing us and before long would land right in your hand to peck out some bits of granola bar-pretty cool. (Don't try this with bears or cougars) Got pretty cool in a hurry at this point and we had to put our jackets and hats back on for the hike down. The snow was pretty compact on the trail and not much of a hazard for the most part. Other areas of water and mud on the trails but it was really nothing. Only 1-2 windfalls blocking the trails otherwise in pretty good shape. One note of warning ***The bathroom at the trail-head is GONE!!! plan accordingly. I am not sure what the plan for this is long term but considering how much traffic this site gets in the summer the parking area is going to be one smelly joint after a while.

Hamma Hamma campground to Lower Lena Lake: 10 mi. RT, 1,450 foot gain. I’ve done this hike many times, but never in the snow. WOW!!!! It’s fantastic! It was snowing as we left Dosewallips SP but 101 was only wet. A couple miles up the Hamma Hamma/FS 25 road, wet changed to compact snow with some powder on top. We decided to park at the Hamma Hamma campground as my friend’s Rav4 started slipping where you turn right up towards the trailhead. This added 2 miles each way but gave us a better chance of arriving in one piece. The hike up the road to the trailhead was beautiful and would make a nice snowshoe trip if the road was really bad. It follows the Hamma Hamma River which was rushing along and the snow looked so pretty drifting softly from the sky, coating firs and cedars so the green and white contrasted with the red Cascara by the roadside. There was one car at the trailhead but we did not encounter these hikers until we’d arrived at the lake. The way up we had all to ourselves in an icicle wonderland you wouldn’t believe. There is one cave full of ‘cicles maybe 2/3 of the way up the trail. Photos can’t do it justice. With snow falling hard and temps in the upper 20s-low 30s, we slogged up the switchbacks. Trail is in great shape. We made it easily in boots only, though I brought my microspikes in case. We made it to picnic rock by 11 but couldn’t think of a better place for lunch so succumbed early to frozen Cliff bars, peanut butter & honey. The snow was falling so heavily it at times you couldn’t see the far shore of the lake, then would slow enough to see the hillside beyond. The lake had about 4” of ice but we did not trust walking on it as there were some melty spots by the shore. We followed the lake trail a ways to get some views from the shore but it was really coming down with 2-3” accumulated since we’d started so we started worrying about getting out. We spoke with two men who had gone a ways up The Brothers trail. Snow deepens significantly after Lower Lena; bring snowshoes to go beyond the lake. The trail was gorgeous going down with the fresh snow. We saw two more men coming up as we were headed out (this was maybe 1 p.m.; we parked just after 9). That was it in terms of people, so definitely a great day for relative solitude on a usually slammed trail. We had a bit of trouble getting out since the snow was starting to melt out lower down, leaving a couple inches of slush over the base of compact snow and ice. The road turned, but neither my friend’s Rav4 nor my Prius (which had not had an issue until this) did – they bowed to Newton and continued merrily straight on into the woods. I was able to stop less than a foot before running into my friend’s car, which got smashed in the front right. We were able to get out fine (me without a scratch) but boy did that perk up the senses. We were going about 8 to 12 mph on that road or it would have been much worse. I highly recommend this as a hike or snowshoe where it’s overcast since the beauty of the hike is in the woods and water – no need for clear skies. But be careful!!! More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/51278183@N05/sets/72157626164266742/detail/