THE BROTHERS TRAIL

Way trail, limited maintenance
Length 3.0 mi/4.8 km
Access Lena Lake Trail; Upper Lena Lake Trail
USGS Maps The Brothers; Mount Jupiter
Agency Olympic National Forest

People—primarily climbers headed for The Brothers—tramping 
up East Fork Lena Creek, created this way path. The route, 
which is now maintained, begins at the northwestern corner 
of Lena Lake (1900 ft/579 m), where it intersects Lena Lake 
Trail and the old route to Upper Lena Lake. At the very 
beginning, the trail crosses Lena Creek, which is spanned by 
several logs, and the hiker can take a choice of crossings. 
The trail then skirts the north shore, where it goes by a 
new camping area located in a stand of giant firs. 
Excellent campsites are located here, but one must obtain 
water from the lake.

Leaving the lake, the way trail—now a mass of rocks and 
roots—enters The Brothers Wilderness and begins to climb as 
it follows East Fork Lena Creek through the Valley of 
Silent Men.  The name stems from the days when Olympic 
College conducted climbing classes in the mountains, 
beginning in the late 1940's.  When scaling The Brothers, 
the participants camped the night before at Lena Lake, and 
then arose at an early hour to make the ascent. As the 
climbers plodded up this valley in the semidarkness, 
conversation languished, and it was christened the Valley 
of Silent Men. Although it is quiet and peaceful, one can 
hear the murmur of Lena Creek in the distance, and now and 
then the raucous cry of a raven.

The trail descends to the East Fork, which at this point 
flows underground except when the snow is melting in the 
high country, or after heavy rains. Big, moss covered 
boulders are everywhere, and old, rotting logs lie across 
the path. Huckle berry grows rank, mixed with devil's club 
and vanilla leaf.

As it follows the creek bed, the trail climbs sharply, and 
presently one can hear running water ahead. The route now 
goes up the narrow valley through thickets0 vine maple, 
salmonberry, huckleberry, devil's club, and alder. The flat 
along the creek disappears, and the trail climbs out of the 
creek bed. The valley is little mo« than a V-shaped cleft 
shaded by the dark, gloomy hemlock forest. The creek is now 
a flowing stream—noisy, rollicking, full of cascades—and 
the trail crosses to the east side to a camp (1.5 mi/2.4 
km; 2300 ft/701 m). The path is rocky, and the hiker has to 
use care when walking among the boulders. The trail then 
goes back to the west side, to another camp (1.9 mi/3.1 km; 
2450 ft/747 m), only to return once more to the east side. 
The creek is larger here; apparently some of the water is 
lost downstream due to subterranean drainage. Many huge 
boulders have fallen from the cliffs above; all are thickly 
padded with moss, indicating that the slides occurred years 
ago.

The trail now climbs steeply through stands of hemlock and 
silver fir to a large basin at the southeastern base of The 
Brothers. After going by a brackish, mossy pond, the route 
crosses the creek to The Brothers Camp (3.0 mi/4.8 km; 
3000ft/ 914 m). This is the end of the maintained trail. 
The fairly large camping area (it can accommodate about a 
dozen tents) occupies the triangle where two branches of 
the creek come together. Climbers often use this site as an 
overnight camp prior to making an ascent of The Brothers.

The neophyte should not venture farther because the route 
is poorly marked. In fact; beyond this point the trail is 
strictly a way path used by climbers.