Arrived at trailhead at 8:30 am on Saturday. Sign-in showed 11 parties heading for Valhalla, so changed plans to go to Lake Janus instead. (Was great decision, when we checked out that evening, 55 parties had signed up for Valhalla.) Hike to Janus was calm and quiet, and had nice chats with about 5 sets of PCT through hikers, some going to Canada, some heading to Mexico. The lake drowsed under blue skies, shallow with lilly pads, and after lunch, a curious dragonfly came close. Lots of butterflies attended the wild flowers in purple, blue, red, white.
Decided to head on up to view section about 1 mile further in. Really lovely trail, on the wide side for so many miles in, with a soft and sweet smelling cover of pine needs. Picked blue huckleberries and a few salmon berries on the way up. Stopped at the west knoll for a view to Glacier Peak far across deep green valleys below, before finally heading back down. Total 11 miles, 2500 ft elevation change.
There's a lovely water source on the way to Janus, a waterfall gurgling into a pool of clear water. Then, just before Janus a clearly signposted pit toilet on left. Some bugs will gather when you stop moving, but with deet and long sleeves/pants they were no problem.
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