Pretty easy hike. Lots of cool mushrooms if you go towards upper Lena and then cut down towards the stream which spits you out at the lower lake. Muddy in a few places. I bet this is fun in the summer.

A beautiful morning on the peninsula, and a great way to spend what the forecast implies might be the last "summer" weekend of the year. 

THE ROAD / PARKING

The road to the lot is in great shape, paved all the way there. There were only a couple of potholes on the edge of the road (super easy to drive around) that were marked by spray paint. The parking lot itself had lots of space — you could easily park a couple dozen cars there. 

Got to the parking lot around 8:40 to a half-full parking lot — plenty of spaces available. 

When we got back to the parking lot around 1 in the afternoon, the lot was more full but there were still some spots available. 

I didn't use the trailhead vault toilets, but they were definitely still open. 

THE TRAIL

The trail is in wonderful shape! We didn't run into any issues on the trail at all. It definitely felt like fall with the fallen leaves and mushrooms around. 

It took us about 1:25 to get up to the lake, then about 1:20 back to the trailhead, allowing some folks to pass on our way down. 

MISC.

It's been many years since I've been to Lena Lake — what a lovely, relatively mild hike! 

We ran into no one on our way up to the lake. We ran into many parties heading to the lake on our way down, but I was supposed to find that it was still pretty quiet overall.

The lake itself is really peaceful right now. We found a nice spot near the lake shore and sat there for quite a while before heading down. There are quite a few birds hoping for an offering there, so watch your snacks! 

Road in had two potholes, marked.
Weather and trail good.
Birds still friendly and aggressive after your snacks

The trail was well maintained, there was one tree down that blocked the trail but was easy enough to navigate for my dog and I. The view of the lake worth it.

The only down side one the small group with an off leash large dog that was dog aggressive. They made no attempt to put their dog on leash when it became aggressive towards mine.

Excellent hike!  We stopped at the ranger station in Quilcene for a parking pass but discovered you can buy one at the trailhead.

Thank you to all that maintain this trial, it looks like much work has gone into it.  Beautiful bridges, well place rocks for stability.  There are quite a bit of tree roots and rocks on the trail but it is well maintained.  Steady upward climb through majestic old growth with a beautiful lake to enjoy over lunch.  Will be a go to hike for me!