hiked to lena lake on friday evening. trail is in good shape. i can't say the same for the brothers trail. multiple blowdowns to manage. the route from base camp is easy to follow thanks to the multiple flags on the trees. when you come to the burn area i recomend you go straight through to the other side and start up the gully on the snow rather than stay in the trees like the normal route. the burn area is unstable and the dirt has turned into a messy clay like substance. once your in the main shute the conditions get better. the snow was soft down low but got pretty icey towards the top. i recomend using an ice ax, crampons, and helmet. we saw a couple not using a ice ax or helmet. they made it to the summit but i don't recomend it. it was a great trip and a great workout.

Upper Lena Lake Trip Report....... 05/06/2007 Roads to Lena were clear. Trails to Lower Lena were clear of snow and had been cleared of all blow down. We ran into a lot of blow-down as soon as we departed Lower Lena for Upper Lena. Some of the blow-down has been cleared but probably just by hikers. It was all very passable but added an extra hour or two to the hike. We hit patches of snow at about 3200 and solid snow at 3500-3700. We didn't make it all of the way to Upper Lena because the hike in snow without crampons or snowshoes was very slow going so we made camp just below the lake at night fall. My best estimate is 10 to 12 feet of snow just below Upper Lena and maybe a tad deeper at the lake. We didn't run into any other hikers or tracks on the way up or down above 3500 so no 2nd hand reports. Didn't meet any hikers coming from The Brothers so no report there.

After much research, I decided that this was the trail to take my daughters (10/13) on for their first backpacking trip. Got to the trail at about 2:30pm, met a friend and we all headed up. Before I decided on this trail, I read almost all of the reports/reviews. Now here is my take on the trail. The trail itself is very nicely groomed. Like the reports say, gentle switchbacks and such. What I was not expecting was the 3 miles of UP HILL. The entire trail is up, up and up. Being that it was a first for my girls, I might have picked something that was not quite as long and as much up hill. Anyway, after hearing ""are we there yet"" or them asking the day hikers on there way down ""how much farther is the top,"" we made it to the top(they were actually troopers with their 20# packs). As stated in other reviews, it is crowded!! We found a nice site close to the water and it was great. As I kept telling the girls, if it was easy, EVERYONE would be here and it would not be special. We set up camp and had a great night. A bit of rain overnight, but nothing much. Next morning, we ate breakfast, packed up camp and headed out. The trip down was a breeze!! Overall, we will do this trail again as everyone had a great time. We really enjoyed it, but if you are expecting an ""easy"" walk, I would say that is not exactly what this trail is. Depending on your load, will depend on how hard it is. I hope this all made sense, but if not, I'm sorry:)

Lena Lake trail is clear of blowdowns and snow. Trail was dry. Nice warm-up for the upcoming year. Crowded on weekend, but managed to find a good campsite - most hikers were day hikers.

Myself, my 9 week old daughter and our friend hiked to the lower Lena Lake. We had a perfect day without rain except for a few drops that fell from the trees. The trail was completely clear of snow and debre. We had lunch at one of the camping sites accompainied by a few birds. The trip up was quite warm once we got moving. My daughter only got a bit cold when I needed to change her diaper. A friend of ours reports that he enjoys bringing his 2.5 year old son in a back pack. Our other friend says her 5 year old son is able to hike the whole way. Definately a kid friendly trail. Enjoy.