Jeff and I hiked to Upper Lena Lake on August 20-22, sort of on a whim. I say sort of
because Jeff had wanted to make this trip for a while. On the other hand, this specific trip was not planned more than about 2 days in advance, and I hadn’t yet found our hiking maps after the move. If I had looked more carefully and not trusted in Jeff’s memory, I might have been more careful about committing myself.
I don’t mean that there were any nasty surprises on the trail; there was just a lot of Up. It was almost more than I could bear. The trail’s about 7.5 miles, fairly gentle for the first half and then progressively steeper. One stretch involves scrambling up rocks, and towards the end there are some evil, steep and treacherous switchbacks up a sloping meadow. By the time we got to that point, I was just about ready to drop. (Ooooh, rocky trail, so comfortable…)
But the scenery at the top was worth it.
Sunday we bummed around and rested for the return journey. We took a short walk to Milk Lake in the morning, but eating and sleeping consumed most of the day. We saw a number of other hikers at the lake, most of them looking much fresher and more energetic than I, but I consoled myself that the majority of them were day-hiking from Lower Lena. Jeff and I had hiked from the trailhead with full packs. That’s nothing to sneeze at.
Jeff wanted to summit Mount Lena, but I called it off. I didn’t feel up to it myself, and I didn’t want him going off on his own. He agreed, reluctantly, but he is determined to go back.
My right knee had started paining me on Saturday afternoon, towards the end of our hike; ironically, my knee hurts more when descending, so I was not looking forward to the downhill trek. I hoped that resting up on Sunday would help, which it might have done, but I’m not sure. It didn’t stop hurting when I walked, but I did figure out that switching the stick to my left hand and going backwards occasionally were helpful tactics.
We broke camp very early on Monday and hiked downhill through the morning fog. I was tired and in pain through most of the outbound trip, but I kept going because there was no other choice. I had come in on my own two feet, and that was how I had to go out.
It should be no surprise to you that I slept through most of the car ride home.
Note 2.9.2005: I forgot to tell the funniest thing about our trip. As we took the upper fork to Upper Lena, behind us a man with a couple of boys stayed on the trail to Lower Lena Lake. One of the boys asked, Why aren’t we going to Upper Lena?
His father’s response: Because they’re tougher than we are.
(Ha, tell that to my knee.)
Kris says:
Beautiful pictures. I'm glad you posted about your move. With us getting ready to move to Washington I truly enjoy your "hiking journals". I wouldn't want to miss out. Thank you so much for posting about your trips and the great photos.