Smithbrook, Lake Janus and Grizzly Peak — Friday, Jun. 11, 2004

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East

What a great hike! 2.9 miles each way. We started with only one other car in the lot, but never saw another hiker all day. The Smithbrook trail is .9 miles to the PCT intersection (called Union Gap) . This took us a while because we lost the trail in the snow and went WAY too far before we gave up finding the trail and retraced our steps back. We then found the intersection and had no problem keeping on the route thereafter. This place is full of great views of woods, valleys, and water. There was enough snow (up to 4 feet or so in places) to hide the trail in places. Taking lots of photos is a must, but I could have done without dropping my cellphone in the creek (Hey, they don’t work up here anyway.) We originally planned an overnight, but the weatherman said otherwise. As it turned out, he was right. Beautiful trip and the rain didn’t start until we got back to the car. The trail gains 500 feet and looses 700. The high point is only 4700 feet, but shade has protected the snow. Trail conditions are pretty good, though no maintenance seems to have been done yet this year. I only saw one or two blowdowns which were easy to step over. I recommend everyone stay away from this trail, because we are going back for that overnight. How many times can you find the PCT deserted? We didn’t need snowshoes. We saw no bugs, and temperatures were near 50f or so (a guess.)