Midweek hike and the parking lot was 3/4 full.  Not too many people on the trail though, good chats along the way.

Arrived at the trail head 9:00am - virtually no insects.  As the day heated up, so did they, but not too onerous.  Didn't need bug spray, just a sprig to encourage them to seek other targets. (Sprig chosen for being a candidate for removal for trail maintenance).  Damp areas and creek crossings hosted the most beautiful butterflies and fascinating dragonflies!  And there were fabulous mushrooms, huge in size!  I have no idea what they are - must go look them up...

Pikas were abundant in the boulder fields - so abundant that I could smell them!

The lake was lovely - water lilies in bloom, abundant wildflowers in the meadows.  Camp-over hikers were swimming in the shallow water, and basking on the rocks.

And being on the PCT was a plus!  :)

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.

Had the time for a long hike, so decided to go all the way to Grizzly Peak from the Smithbrook TH.

Despite clear skies at the start of the hike (just after 4 am), the clouds moved in and I was pretty much rained/misted on from about 5:30 am on to the rest of the hike.

Because most of the trail follows the PCT north, it is in pretty good shape. The trail was a little muddy in places from late runoff while heading northbound. On the return to the TH, it was quite a bit wetter because of all the rain that had fallen. As far as downed trees go, there was only one to step over which was about 1/4-1/2 mile after passing Lake Janus.

Even though I had no views of the surrounding peaks for the last three-mile approach to Grizzly Peak due to the weather, the trail was still quite lovely. And the rainy/misty conditions did make for a more comfortable hike that allowed me to have a quicker pace.

Also, the wetter conditions meant that there weren't a whole lot of people out on the trail.

Not counting all of the birds around, there wasn't much in the way of wildlife save for the occasional chipmunk. However, early in my hike when it was still dark, I did hear some heavy movement just off the trail. Not sure if it was a deer, bear or something else, but based on the sound it was something larger. It's a little unnerving to hear when you can't see anything, but I just moved on cautiously and, thankfully, the sound didn't follow me. :)

Lake Janus was bigger but shallower than expected.

We hiked up the Smith Brook trail to the PCT where we turned north to hike to Lake Janus. The trail passes through old growth forests, meadows and across a couple of streams. I imagine one of the streams may be tough to pass during spring melt off. It was easy to cross on the day we hiked it though. At the base of the small waterfall we found frogs which was fun to see! The flowers were blooming in the open spaces. There were lots of butterflies in the brushy boulder field on the way to the lake.

We continued on towards Lake Janus where we ate our lunch. There was a bird that was "yelling" at us quite a bit. We think it must have been protecting her nest or something so we ate our lunch further down the shore to give her some space. 

After lunch we continued north on the PCT hoping to cross the meadows where we read there would be good views. We hiked over 1.5 miles past the lake and never came across any great views. There were peek-a-boo views between the trees but nothing spectacular. Perhaps we turned around a few hundred yards too soon? We turned around by the old PCT sign nailed into a tree. 

Overall, it was a nice hike. We saw maybe 8 people total a few PCT through-hikers, a few day hikers, and 2 backpackers with a baby. 

Lovely Hike! My 25% deet bug spray did nothing! Had to buy the Ben’s 98%. Being so much bug spray!