I was surprised to find snow during the last mile to Lower Lena Lake, especially since the lake is only at 1800 feet and our hike last week to Big Hump was completely snow free. The trail is certainly hikable, however, as the snow is only a few inches deep. We ate our lunch at the lake and our dog even went for a brief swim (!) in spite of the fact that a dusting of ice was covering the water just beyond the shoreline.

Trail is completely clear and snow free all the way to the lake. Very quiet along the trail. Only saw ten people including one mountain biker. Lake is unfrozen. Very nice late season hike.

We spent the last week in the Olympics, one day at Lena Lake and the next 5 days at upper Lena Lake. Lena Lake is fairly low, and has a lot of muddy shoreline showing. There were lots of people there on Saturday.... glad we were leaving and that we had spent most of our time at upper Lena Lake. No snow on the trails all the way to Milk Lake and to Scout Lake. The trail to Upper Lena Lake has been swathed out where the devils club would otherwise be encroaching. It made this steep trail quite bearable to hike. There are a few snow fields off trail past Milk Lake and just on the East side of Mt. Lena. Lots of flowers (Lupine, Bistort, Asters, Elephants'head) but many species past prime ( Lilies, phlox). Very few people there during mid week. We met no one on the trail to Scout Lake, Milk Lake or up to Mt Lena mid week. The trail to Scout Lake is very very steep, and the fish aren't any bigger, and upper Lena is more beautiful.... better to spend your time hiking the ridges along Mt Lena or up Mt Bretherton in my opinion. Bugs were moderate. The water sources and the moonrises are much better on the West end of the Upper Lena Lake, which is the far end from where the trail comes to the Lake.

The trail to Upper Lena is in excellent shape and much privacy is to be had for overnights at the Upper Lake. The meadows both above the lake and along the trail to Scout Lake are in full bloom and ""buzz"" I would guess a person can stop at most for two minutes before the mosquitos and black flys motivate you to be moving on. But they are not really THAT bad and we found a little citronella bug juice kept them at bay. My fellow campers who choose to stay in camp and read were also glad to have a couple of citronella candles going. Trail open to Milk Lake to the South and Bretherton is a nice scramble. We encountered no snow in our scrambles of either Bretherton or Mt Lena. Upper Lena has a resident Osprey which can be observed engaging in Osprey commerce during day. Enjoy!