Overnighter at Lower Lena Lake with my 10 year old son for his first backpacking trip.
Arrived at the trailhead at 9am on Friday with only one other car there. Road in is fully paved, there are a couple of large but well marked pot holes that are easy to dodge while driving. Vault toilet at the trailhead was surprisingly clean given the government shut down.
Took our time hiking up the wide and well maintained trail, stopping to admire interesting features along the way: mossy rocks, large rocky outcroppings, and a nice view point of the valley at around 2.2 miles in.
We arrived at the lake at 11am greeted by two day hikers - presumably from the only other car we saw at the trailhead.
We chose the first campsite as you walk in to setup at, which had the nearest access to the lake. We had the entire lake to ourselves most of Friday. A solo backpacker arived some time after 2pm, followed by another small group shortly after.
My son tried his luck at fishing, he persisted for several hours but no bites the entire time we were there. We expolored the south shore of the lake (the part formed by the large landslide from 1300 years ago). We found the large boulders and downed trees balancing across each other fascinating and eerie.
The weather was as good as you could ask for the 2nd weekend in October. Almost no rain except for a small drizzle during the night and several sunbreaks during the day which gave us amaizing photo opportunities. My keychain thermometer measured the overnight low at 48F.
While not busy for our stay, there was a lot of evidence of heavy summer use in the campground. Bits of trash and left behind gear. Yes the toilet is still out of commission and you can spot hastily covered cat holes about.
According to web sources, the fire restrictions were lifted and access to Upper Lena Lake should have been open but I think due to the government shutdown, no campfire signage was still up and the trail to Upper Lena Lake was still blocked off with flagging tape and a sign indicating no access.
Saturday morning started bustling before 9am with mostly day hikers streaming in. After a lazy morning and breakfast of blueberries and oatmeal, we were packed up and started to head down the trail at about 10am. Passing group after group of hikers and a few backpackers on our way back down to the trailhead. We got to the trailhead around 11:30am and it was almost full, perhaps maybe 4-5 parking spots left.
All in all this was a really positive first backpacking experience for my son, he said the only thing that would have made it better is if he had caught a fish :)
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