Mt. Townsend

We celebrated 4th of July by hiking to the highest summit we've done so far, Mt. Townsend.  At an elevation of 6280 feet and round trip mileage of about 9 miles, it was an ass-kicker.  This trail is very popular, so there were a lot of people on the trail even though the weather was not so great.  As we passed people on the way up we asked how it was at the top and everyone told us there were no views today or only a patch of sunshine.  We told ourselves we didn't need views anyway - pshhh, we've seen a million mountain views.  This hike is steady but steep, climbing 2900 feet from trailhead to summit.  

Along the way we encountered quite a bit of snow, even in July!

We also encountered beautiful waterfalls and tons of wildflowers in the alpine meadows. 

All the way up the skies were grey, but as we reached the top the clouds seemed to drop and swirl and give us amazing views!  We decided it was karma (and getting a  late start!)

Hard to tell if it was the thin air or the sheer beauty that made it hard for us to catch our breath, but we both got a little choked up at our achievement and the amazing surroundings.  At 5 months and 2 days past Chris' back surgery, here he is looking eye-to-eye with the Olympic Mountain range.





 Since this trail is so popular, it is very well maintained.  Even with all the people we encountered we didn't see one piece of trash on the ground.  Its easy to see that the folks that hike this trail are more serious hikers who seek to preserve the beauty around them.   Other than a few birds, the only wildlife we saw was a little rabbit - he decided to hide in the trees and not be photogenic. As we descended back down the trail, the fog rolled in and covered all the views but that probably helped us stay on track to get down the mountain before dark. We cut it pretty close, hitting the parking lot at about 8:45PM. 

Today's lesson:  when climbing to such high elevations Chris needs to take decongestants ahead of time.   Once we started the drive home the built up pressure behind his sinuses was so great he said it felt like a knife stabbed him between the eyes when he yawned.  Luckily, it passed after about 15 minutes.  We even got amazing views on the way home.  The moon over Hood Canal was huge and red, and because it was the 4th of July there were fireworks being set off as far as we could see on both sides of the bridge.    It was such a rewarding day that reaffirmed how grateful we are to live in such an amazingly beautiful area.



Lower Lena Lake

For nearly a year we've been talking about the Lena Lake trail, both of us having read about it on different websites, books, etc.   Yesterday we finally hiked it and it was awesome. The Lena Lake trailhead is just southwest of Quilcene in The Brothers area of the Olympic Mountains. The 8 mile road into the trail head is a nice, paved entry which goes past Hamma Hamma campground.  The distance to Lena Lake is just over 3 miles with an elevation climb of 1300 ft.  It is said to be one of the most popular trails in the Olympics and even though we tried to time our adventure with the exodus on Memorial Day,  we still saw at least 20 other hikers, including several families with kids.

The 3+ mile climb to Lena is full of switchbacks, making for a steady elevation gain.  We climbed for about 2.5 hours of heart pumping fun.  The beginning of the trail is quite rocky, but eventually it smooths out to hard packed dirt and is well maintained. Along the way you start to hear the roar of the rapids, but they stay hidden for most of the trip.  There are a couple dry river beds where the stream now runs subterranean.

Eventually there are a few peak-a-view glimpses of the river, and a bridge that crosses:

The farther you go, the bigger the trees get and there are some amazing rock formations. Once you reach the top and see a sneak peek of the lake, you know the climb was worth it.  We stopped at "lunch rock" and had a snack and enjoyed the incredible view:

I don't know if the photo really captures the amazing dark teal color of the lake.  It is beautiful!

There are primitive campgrounds surrounding the lake and a composting toilet.  This, combined with the popularity of the destination means there are quite a few signs of human abuse of the area.  We tried to look past all of that and enjoy the amazing scenery.  From here,  the trail continues in two directions: either The Brothers summit or Upper Lake Lena,  both of which are huge elevation gains. Our plan is to one day hike up to Lower Lena, camp overnight, continue to Upper Lena where there are fewer travelers and fewer accommodations and camp overnight, and then make our way down.  It would be a huge challenge for us at this stage - but it's on our list!

Overall this hike took us about 5.5 hours, which included some time exploring around the lake and checking out the campgrounds. It was definitely a fun adventure, a great workout and a worthwhile trip.