Lake Valhalla, Smithbrook

This was a hike from the Smithbrook trailhead to Lake Valhalla. There is still a lot of snow. This hike should not be attempted unless you have good skills in off-trail travel on snow and navigating when there is no trail in sight. Most hikers should wait another month and then try this trip.

The trail is snow free until just below Union Gap; there are two large patches before joining the PCT. The second one is a bit of a problem because the trail wanders off to the left before turning towards Union Gap. I walked the trail to Lake Janus for about five minutes and did not see any snow. Then I returned to Union Gap and headed towards Lake Valhalla. Most of the trail is convered in snow; I estimate something like 75% of it. There are a few stretches of snow free trail, but mostly it is large patches of snow with very little pieces of trail (two or three feet) before the next patch of snow. Some of the snow is very deep, so even though you are walking directly above the trail, there are tree branches just above the snow. As you reach the saddle of Lichtenberg Mountain, there is a nice stretch of snow free trail, but then the rest of the trail is snow covered to the Lake. Most of the Lake is still covered in snow. There are a few small patches of water.

I did not see any flowers, but there were almost no bugs. It was a beautiful day in the mountains, but the snow added an extra half hour to my trip to the Lake. There were a couple of trees across the trail, but they were not a problem.