I had a great trek me and my two dogs. It was warm, the lakes were beautiful, incredible views. I plan on going back this spring or summer.

Overnight backpacking trip on the PCT North from Stevens Pass (actually Smithbrook, which reduces the trip by about six miles.) Hit the trailhead at 5:30 AM in a cloud of mosquitoes. The one-mile Smithbrook access trail had a few blowdowns up to the intersection with the PCT, where there were numerous blowdowns over the intersection. A side trail is developing to intersect the PCT with just two or three to crawl over. The descent along the PCT to Lake Janus is pleasant, with numerous small streams crossing the trail. There is a small waterfall at a bend in the trail. Around Lake Janus, I've never seen so many mosquitoes. A headnet is essential, if you cross near dawn or dusk when they are at their worst. Switchbacks and blowdowns as you climb up and pass Glasses Lake and Heather lake, on the way up Grizzly Peak. Fantastic views of Glacier Peak from Grizzly Peak. I continued past Pear Lake (about 15 miles from Smithbrook), past Pass Creek, and stopped for dinner. As I was cleaning up after dinner, PCT through-hiker Trent "Dog Catcher" came by, and we hiked together for a few miles. There are numerous blowdowns between Pass Creek and Lake Sally Anne. Trent was on a 30 mile/day pace, so we eventually seperated, and I caught up to him again at Lake Sally Anne, around 9PM. There was a hiking pair that had spent the day there, Trent was there, and he expected Marco. The lake is mostly frozen, and lots of mosquitoes. I elected to proceed another 20 minutes, and camped in a saddle along the Cady Ridge Trail. The breeze through the saddle kep the skeeters away, and there was even a pool of solar heated water for washing up before bed. Started hiking the next day at 4:30 AM, got back to the Smithbrook parking lot at 8PM. There are still a few sections of trail buried by snow, but they are short enough that route finding is not an issue. Blowdowns present occasional route finding challenges, where the obscure the trail. 44 miles round trip, starting pack weight 33.1 lbs.

Sounded like a great little lake to hike to do on the way home from Leavenworth. Started out at 11am and immediately ran in to some huge blowdowns. They never let up. In the two miles we hiked we must have come across a dozen such blowdowns. Some we had to climb over, some crawl under. Finally we got discouraged and turned back before reaching the lake. No sign that the blowdowns were going to be removed any time soon. A few mosquitoes but nothing serious. So decide for yourself how many obstacles you are willing to put up with. Lake Janus does sound like a pretty spot.

We had planned to go to Lake Valhalla and started on the Smithbrook trail which has not been cleared of blow downs. About 200 yards shy of its intersection with the Pacific Crest trail we ran into a snow field and a hillside of blow downs. We followed foot prints in the snow and ribbons on the trees to find our way, since the trail was completely hidden by snow and debris. When we attained the Pacific Crest Trail we turned toward Lake Valhalla, but quickly lost the trail in the snow and blow downs. So we changed direction and headed toward Lake Janus. There was one large tree across the trail and without a flag marking it we might have lost the trail in that direction as well. Once over the tree, the way to Lake Janus was easy, with just a few more blow downs. The lake was serene and surprisingly warm for this time of year. There were only two other parties at the lake on this Saturday, perhaps because of the poor trail conditions. Wild flowers were coming out in the mountain meadows along the way. We encountered no problem with bugs. For the experienced hiker this was a nice Saturday hike with an easy drive from Seattle, but for the novice or one who wants a clear trail to walk, wait until the trail crews get to the Smithbrook trail before trying it.

I hiked up to where Smithbrook meets the PCT yesterday. Road to the parking lot was clear of snow, but one small tree had to be driven over and another large one was cut leaving a narrow slot on one side of the road to drive through. I hadn't been up there so I made the mistake of starting at the trail head and looking for the trail in the deep snow only to find that it meets up with the road again at the elbow. If you go up while there is still snow near the parking lot, just walk west along the road and the trail is fairly obvious near the bend. The trail was blocked by several large trees in the switchbacks and there was significant snow where it flattens out. 2-3 feet of hard stuff in most places. I used GPS to stay on track. I only made it about 1/4 mile past the pass before I had to turn around due to time. The trail that continued on to Lake Janus was in similar condition from what I could tell.