Upper Lena Lake / Mt. Bretherton,  Olympic National Park,  Jul 7, 2008 - Jul 9, 2008     page 7 / 27

Today would be a leisurely day of exploring and climbing. We planned on climbing both Mt. Bretherton and Mt. Lena. Looking at the two peaks, though, the latter just didn't seem to have the appeal that Mt. Bretherton did. We decided to climb just Bretherton.

We headed up the hill and soon found ourselves upon the snow. The snow was firm, but without the icy crust that sometimes forms overnight. This made for easy travel.

There were no trails to follow, though we were familiar with the route described in the Olympic Mountains Trail Guide. We soon reached Milk lake. This small lake at the base of Mt. Bretherton was just beginning its summer melt. We looked up the valley toward the steep snowfield mentioned in the climbing guide. While the snow travel would certainly not be difficult, it looked as though there could be some challenges on the rock just below the ridge. After considering this, we chose another route which looked more promising.