The Big Quilcene River trail is a great starter day hike. It's actually pretty long and would be a perfect over night trail. There's even a really nice place to camp. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
We actually got up early and got our stuff together and we were out the door before we knew it. We're getting good at this. The weather forecast said a 10% chance of rain, which I've learned from 10 years living in the Pacific Northwest, that means it's going to rain. We brought our rain gear. And a dang good thing. It rained the entire time!
Here's what it looked like as we were approaching the trailhead:
Rain and Fog approaching the Trail Head
Once we arrived at the trail head we got into our rain gear and got our packs on and hit the trail around 9am. There was only one other car in the parking lot. Clearly there weren't many people who wanted to be out in that yuck. There was a privy available and a trail registry which I was excited to sign.
Trail Head with a missing person sign attached to it *yikes*
Big Quilcene River Trail Registry
The trail was very well maintained. It was also very easy the incline was gradual and the views were outstanding. From the very beginning we were encountering little waterfalls.
Snow Run Off
Then I saw this thing. I'm not sure what it is, but it's kind of odd looking, especially with all the moss growing on it.
Moss covered Tree?
The trail started out wide but narrowed real quick. It reminded me of pictures I've seen of the AT. It's my dreaming of the AT that keeps me putting one foot in front of the other when I'm on these hikes.
Trail Narrowing
As we continued on we came up on this interesting little spot. It was a little bit off the trail and sort of back in the brush a little bit. I couldn't get a good picture. I don't dare bring my DSLR camera on these hikes but my point and shoot usually does pretty good. Not on this one. But I wanted you to get the idea of what it looked like. It was so pretty.
Waterfall in a little "cove"
The rain was really starting to come down and my camera case was getting soak so I was concerned that it might get damaged. I was sad to do it, but decided it was time for it to go into my pack to hopefully give it a little extra protection. Speaking of my pack, it was also at this time I realized that my pack really isn't all that "water resistant". Everything was soaked in there. It was a little frustrating, but there wasn't anything that was going to be ruined by the rain and now we know that if we intentionally go out in the rain we have to have different packs. Good to know. I also dug out my jungle hat and put it on. I didn't really want to wear my hood but my head was getting soaked and I needed something. And finally, I got my phone set up so I could use it to take pictures. I managed to acquire what I thought was going to be a perfect case for my phone for this purpose, but it didn't work so well. It was difficult to turn on and difficult to take pictures with. Anyway, the next few pictures are from my phone.
There were 3 bridges that we crossed. They were all brand new and still had the fresh cut pine smell. It was very cool.
First Bridge
This is what the second bridge crossed:
I think this is my favorite picture from this hike. I love that you can see the water running down from way back there.
Second Bridge
Here I am with my jungle hat on soaking wet!
Ugh!
This is a shot taken from the camp site, the river runs right up to it. In fact, one of the spots is only a few feet away from the river. THAT is the spot I want to camp in.
Bark Shanty Shelter (no shelter, just a camping area)
We only hiked out a little bit passed this before we turned around. Leonard wasn't feeling well and my right foot was aching almost from the very beginning. I'm going to have to have my foot looked at again. I thought that after having 2 weeks off it would do just fine, but it wasn't fine at all. It was this really intense burning feeling on the bottom, almost like the feeling you get when your shoes are laced too tight combined with a bruising feeling and the pain shot down my 2 toes after the big toe. It was really uncomfortable.
I didn't take a signature photo this time because we didn't make it to our goal. We made it about 3 miles in before we had to turn back. I'm hoping that we'll have another opportunity to do this trail. It was a beautiful hike and an amazing camping area.
We decided to take a day off. Sunday is my only true day off work and things were starting to pile up around here since we've been spending our Sundays hiking. Plus Leonard wasn't feeling well, he had some major leg cramps a couple days ago and I was a little concerned that would cause problems for the 12 mile hike we had planned. So, we're regrouping and giving our bodies another week of rest.
Lena Lake is a 2 part hike. The first part is a day hike to Lower Lena Lake. It's a little over 3 miles one way (according to the book) to the first lake. The second part is Upper Lena Lake which is about 7 miles one way to the second lake. Today's hike was to Lower Lena.
It took almost 2 hours to drive to Hamma Hamma, the town where Lena Lake is located. We didn't get on the road until after 10am. It rained the whole way there, which is exactly what we were expecting, and prepared for. We arrived at the trail head just before noon and got into our rain gear and off we went.
Lena Lake Trail Head
We weren't on the trail 5 minutes when the switchbacks started. Oh my gosh, these where horrible. There is some serious elevation gain right off the bat. Back and forth back and forth on and on. But at least there was lots to look at. At at the beginning the trail was very well maintained.
Nice railing
But that nice well maintained trail didn't last long (don't worry, we'll get to that real soon). First I have to show you the "trail love" that I found. It seems like there are lots of hearts on the trail, if you just look for them. I think of it as the trail giving me a little love along the way. This was my favorite one that I saw on this hike (sorry it's a little blurry):
Trail Love
This trail had a lot of water on it and all around it. I was in heaven. For me the sound of moving water is so relaxing and I was hearing it the entire hike. This is one of my two favorite photos from this hike. I'm pretty sure it's going to end up in a frame on the wall. Please click on it so you can see the full size image.
Snow Run Off
Our first encounter of "water on the trail" started early in the hike. Before we were even out of the switchbacks we were dealing with little rivers that were cutting through the trail.
Leonard trying not to get wet
I just knew that this trail was going to kick my butt, it was the perfect combination to land me flat on my backside, but some how I managed to beat it this time. I definitely stumbled a couple times and slipped a little, but each time I was able to recover.
As I was hiking along I found this beautiful gem that made me think of Linda, I know how much she loves green and this little mossy green stream whispered her name. (I tend to think of her a lot when I'm hiking).
For Linda
This is my other favorite picture. I think that this one is so pretty. I like the way the moving water was captured in a blur and everything around it is so still. I think it's well composed and definitely frame worthy.
Hike to Lena Lake
One really super cool thing about this hike is Lena Creek. It's actually a pretty good sized creek that is very fast moving and can be heard during most of the hike to Lower Lena. When you actually cross the creek for the first time this is what you see:
Lena Creek looking uphill
First let me say, this picture does nothing for the breath taking amazement you will get standing in this very spot. I could sit here for hours day dreaming. I could tell this was a place of power. I could feel the energy. These are boulders. Some 20 or 30 feet tall. They were pushed into this place by an earthquake hundreds of years ago. The creek is subterranean here but you can still hear it rushing along just on the other side of these boulders. This is what it looks like with my back to the spot above:
Lena Creek looking downhill
It isn't nearly as impressive, but still very breath taking.
Just past this spot is the first bridge. It passes over Lena Creek but I believe it was subterranean here as well, unfortunately I can't recall. It was a very interesting bridge though. It's only wide enough for 1 person and has a fun little turn at the other end. I just love how rustic it is!
Bridge over Lena Creek
Speaking of boulders. As we got closer to the lake we came up on this one. I'm glad I got Leonard in there so you can really see how huge this thing was. Of course it set our minds to thinking about how long it had been there and when it might be due for it's next movement. That kind of thinking leads to all sorts of places.
Huge Boulder
The next part of the hike was the scariest part for me. I'm so disappointed in the pictures that I took of this area because it doesn't look scary at all. But I assure you, it was! Water was rushing down the side of the mountain very fast and the only place it had to go was right on the trail and then on down the mountain on the other side of the trail. Once the water hit the trail it made a river about 6 feet wide that ran over a bunch of rocks on the trail. It was fairly deep, at least above boot level. There were some rocks sticking up to use for traversing but they were mossy and slick as well as a log at the edge of the trail which could also be used for traversing, also very slick. I wasn't sure how I was going to get across without slipping and/or falling in and getting soaked and/or hurt LOL. Leonard went first and talked me across and held my hand as soon as I was in arm's reach. Here's the water coming down the mountain:
That's a lot of water
Water on the Trail
As if all this craziness wasn't enough... next up was the snow! Fortunately there was only one small place where the snow was on the trail but there was lots in the shady spots on the mountain.
SNOW!
The second bridge was over Lena Creek again, but this time she showed herself in all her beauty. This waterfall is pretty high and really loud. I even took a little video so you could be there with me.
Looking up Lena Creek
Looking down Lena Creek
Here we are at the creek
And here's the little video I made (it's only a few seconds)
Just on the other side of the creek was a sign. Just ahead there would be a fork that would head straight uphill to Upper Lena Lake. Something to look forward to for another time.
I'm pooped
As you can see, we don't have our rain gear on. Funny thing. As soon as we got on the trail the rain stopped. It didn't rain a drop the entire time we were on the trail It kept getting dark and threatened to rain and there were several times we thought we were going to have to turn back because it sure felt like we walked more than 3 miles and we weren't there yet and it was getting darker and darker. At one point Leonard said that if the trail didn't start heading toward the lake soon then we would need to turn back so we wouldn't end up walking in the dark. It was only a few minutes after he said those words that we rounded a corner and here's what we saw:
Lower Lena Lake
Finally! The prize. We decided to drop our packs and scout around a little bit to see if it's a place we would like to come back to camp. There were only a few good spots, but the lake was really high and made us wonder if there are more spots that are just under water right now. We could clearly see small trees that were sticking up through the water and trees don't normally grow in lakes LOL. We decided that we would definitely like to come back. It's a nice hike and there is plenty more exploring to do.
Down by the lake there were some amazing views. Here's my Pano:
Lower Lena Lake
Taken with my phone's camera
Now to rest a bit. It got pretty cold by the lake. See the snow on the other side? We decided to put on our rain jackets for a little extra warmth while we were resting. They were perfect, they added a nice thin layer that didn't make us too hot but kept the chill off.
We spent about half an hour at the lake, scouting around, pottying, eating and drinking and of course, my signature photo:
My tired feet at Lower Lena Lake
The return trip wasn't too bad. Even the scary part that had me so tripped up on the way up was a breeze. I was definitely tired. The app I got for my phone said the total trip was 8.5 miles. I don't know how accurate it is, it felt more like 8.5 miles than 6.5 miles. I know we didn't scout around for 2 miles, so I'm really not sure where that app picked up the extra 2 miles. Or maybe it was actually correct and the book is wrong, trails, do change...
I was happy I didn't get the swelling in my hands this time. The only difference I noted was that I went potty twice on this trip and it wasn't quite as long as the last one. The bottoms of my feet were sure tender though. The ball of my right foot is naturally sensitive due to whatever malfunction I have going on in there, and the hike really aggravated it and the 2 toes after my big toe. I also got a bruise on my left leg where the top of my boot was rubbing on it. My left ankle was still a little touchy from last week so I wore my boot a teensy bit looser than I normally like to have them to relieve the pain in my ankle but that made it just loose enough to rub. Other than that... all is well.
