Lake Janus and Grizzly Peak — Wednesday, Sep. 14, 2016

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East

It was a great day for a hike in the late summer sun! My 2 friends who don't get out to hike much joined me today so I went somewhat easy on them and we hiked to Lake Janus. We started from the Smithbrook Trailhead just east of Stevens Pass on FSR 6700. The road is rough in a few places but nobody in a standard car should have trouble reaching the trailhead right now, really the road is in some of the best shape I've ever seen it right now. There were several cars at the trailhead when we arrived but we saw less than 2 dozen people on the day including some through hikers. We made good time into the wilderness area and up to Union Gap on the PCT where we turned right and headed north for Lake Janus. There's a bit of a drop after getting on the PCT and the trail rolled up and down from Union Gap to the lake. Along the way we found patches of ripe berries, emerging fungus and a great view of the Rapid River Valley. The highlight of the hikers we ran into was a younger German couple who were hiking to Canada after starting in California! They had been on the trail for 6 weeks! Once we arrived at Lake Janus we found just one tent in a campsite near the lake but nobody home. We had the lake to ourselves for nearly 1/2 hour before another couple arrived. There were some bugs at the lake but they weren't too bad. It was nearly silent with nothing but an occasional breeze to break it. You could see the beginnings of fall color on the ridge to the south of the lake, this place is going to light up in a couple weeks. It was nice to sit near the lake in the warm sun and enjoy one of the last days of summer. All too soon it was time to head back, I will be bringing my overnight bag to this gem in the future.