Smithbrook, Pear Lake & Lake Janus and Grizzly Peak — Friday, Aug. 25, 2017

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East

The two of us got a late start on Friday (changed plans due to the Jolly Mountain fire), so on day 1 hiked the 2 mile Smithbrook trail to connect with the PCT and continued 2 more miles to set up camp at Lake Janus. At this time (~4pm) we were the only campers there, with a few through-hikers stopping for a late lunch. The lake was a fine water source, but the waterfall 0.4 miles before the lake was much better if you have the flexibility to stop there instead. The mosquitos were a nuisance at Lake Janus in the evening (starting around 6pm) so we called it an early night and spent the last of daylight in the tent reading. By morning three other tents were set up, but there were still a couple open campsites. The next morning we left our camp set at Janus and did a day trip to Pear Lake and back (18 miles roundtrip). It’s a beautiful hike, especially on a clear day. At one point we could see Mt. Rainier in the south and Mr. Baker to the north! We took a leisurely pace, and with the switchbacks ended up averaging 30 minutes/mile. The climbs are gentle but steady until you reach the ridgeline past Grizzly Peak. We saw ~2 dozen people that day, and probably 10 were through-hikers. Ripe huckleberries lined the path for the majority of the hike (pleasant reason to go slow, especially when we started running short on water!). Pear Lake was beautiful – crystal clear – and we spent about 45 minutes there eating lunch and cooling our feet before the return hike. There were about four tents set up on the lake, with folks swimming and some had even carried in floaties. When we returned to Lake Janus all but one of the campsites were being used, with about 10-12 other folks there for the night. We departed camp at 8:30am on Sunday and reached the car by 10:30am, where the lot was overflowing with day-hikers. In brief: Ideal for the day Or a good place to spend weeks Lakes, views, tiny frogs