The avalanche debris that was blocking the road at the trailhead is gone/melted. The Smith Brook road is driveable at least to Rainy Pass. I headed up Smith Brook trail from the new parking lot and trailhead at 1:30 pm. There has been a lot of maintenance done to this trail lately and it is in overall good shape. There are a couple of blowdowns on the way to Union Gap. The trail to Janus Lake (PCT) is somewhat muddy and watery in spots, but is passable. The lake was very scenic and well worth the effort. I heard plenty of marmots whistling in the many rockslide areas. There were a few patches of snow near Janus Lake, no problem to find the trail. The weather was perfect for hiking, clear, dry, cool, and slightly breezy. The mosquitos were very bad whenever I stopped, but otherwise the bugs weren't a problem. I left the lake at 7:30 pm, got to Union Gap at 9 and was back at the car in the dark at 9:40. On the drive up to Stevens Pass around noon, right where they are repaving, I saw a small black bear eating a dead deer on the side of the road. There were highway workers and flaggers only 50 ft away, but they seemed unconcerned.

Road #6700 is in good shape, with no washboards, and only a moderate amount of gravel. I took the Smith Brook trail #1590, and then the PCT #2000 to Lake Janus. Both trails were fine. NOTE : These trails are undergoing work by a youth group - NYC. New routes are being cut, and existing trails are undergoing repair and/or modification. The trails are being widened in places, possibly to be pack horse friendly, since they are permitted in the area.

Our group of three skiers headed up the Smith Brook Road Saturday morning, with temperatures hovering around 50 degrees. The road was well-tracked and easy to ski. We left the road at the big hairpin turn and continued through open slopes and forests to Union Gap. Snow depth here was about 5 feet. From the gap, we traversed steep to very steep, crusty snow slopes toward Lake Janus, generally staying between 4300 and 4500 feet. A better route to the lake would be to stay lower and follow the creek. We arrived at the lake early in the afternoon and lunched in the warm sun. After lunch, two of us set up camp for the night; our third member bade us farewell and skied back out. With a little daylight remaining, I decided to continue up to the summit of Janus Mountain, the unnamed 5650-foot peak west of the lake. I first skied to Mud Lake, at 4700 feet, then angled back to a 5300-foot saddle south of the summit. From this saddle, a pleasant ridge leads up to the ""south peak"" and then several hundred yards beyond to the ""north peak"" (true summit). At a point about 25 feet below the summit, the ridge becomes steep and rocky, requiring me to leave my skis and scramble up a short crack, then crabwalk the knife-edged, snow-covered summit crest. The exposure and views were dramatic! Unfortunately, the waning daylight prompted a quick descent back to Lake Janus, which I reached just before dark. Rain began falling as we finished dinner in our tent, and it continued all night long. However, just before we broke camp the next morning, the rain turned to snow. Our ski back to Smith Brook was….wet. The falling snow was wet, and the night's rainfall had turned the snowpack into a slurpee. We were happy to reach the car before anyone drowned!

We arrived at the Smith Brook trailhead at 7:30 Friday evening, under partly cloudy skies and were on the trail to Union Gap and Janus lake by 7:45. The local winged vampires showed up immediately, necessitating an immediate DEET bath prior to shouldering our packs. Trail up to Union gap is pretty muddy once you hit the last 200' of gain, there are still some large snowbanks in the trees and over part of the trail. A string of muddy bootprints are easy to follow to where the trail reappears. The snow is gone from Union Gap all the way to Janus lake, and the trail has no blowdowns or slide problems. Arrived Janus Lake about 9:10, set up camp racing the darkness. The lake is thawed, no snow visible on shore but some still lingers in the trees. All campsites appear melted out, there is still a LOT of water in the area and making one's way to the lake or between campsites means squishing along through many mudholes. The flowers are blooming and a family of ducks are living on the lake. Of course the bugs closed in the instant we stopped moving, so we dosed on DEET again. We stayed up till about 12:30, watching shooting stars and seeing ominous flashes of light in the distance. About 3AM, the sky was rent by a tremendous !BANG! *RUMBLE RUMBLE* and the party began. Rain poured and the thunder rolled for the next two hours. The storm was gone by dawn but the clouds remained, sprinkling light mist and drizzle all of Saturday, and Saturday night, into Sunday morning. We saw 5 parties come in on Saturday, and between the bugs and the rain, two decided to bag it and head right back out. Numerous day hikers poured in as well, making it obvious that if you're after solitude, Janus lake isn't your spot. At one point I could hear 3 separate conversations from 3 campsites. It's also not a good place in early season if you can't tolerate bugs, the hordes were only kept at bay by repeated applications of high concentrations of DEET, my buddy's ""Skintastic"" with OFF brand repellant in it only worked for a mere 30 minutes or so, and he finally broke and wanted to use good old Jungle Juice. Sunday morning the clouds lifted and the rain stopped, but the skeeters were worse than ever. We bailed at 1:30, with the sun finally making some headway against the cloud deck, enough to dry our gear before we packed. All in all, a nice short hike, trail in good shape except for mudholes.

Wow!! A long day, but the bugs are dead! Well, Tuesday’s cold freeze and snow did them in at Lake Janus anyhow. There I was at 11:00am by the lake and not a bug in sight. Lots of tedious blowdown crossings to deal with from Union Gap to Lake Janus, and then even more heading up the steep climb to the ridge past Lake Janus. I spent a good deal of my time on all fours crawling / bellying under many of them. The poor PCT needs some love and care north of Union Gap, anyhow…. A fast 1 ¼ hours to Lake Janus was followed by many great photographs of the pretty lake. Jove Peak is a temptation to try going up from around here too, it’s so pretty. A long, quiet trek up to the 5300’ ridge crossing followed. Then the fun began as for the next 3 miles or so the PCT switches back and forth from Chelan County to Snohomish County on the crest, with the views out of this world!! Looking east toward the Little Wenatchee River valley, Mount David, and tons of other dry peaks. North was dominant with Glacier Peak and everything else imaginable. South brought out Jove Peak, the Chiwakim Mountain range, Mount Stuart, Mount Daniel, Mount Hinman, etc…. This is what ""crest"" hiking is all about! At about 8-9 miles from the trailhead I sat in just melted out meadows at Grizzly Peak viewing all of the Glacier Peak Wilderness to the north while eating sandwiches, M&Ms, and tons of other stuff between more photographs. Truly this has to be one of the most beautiful scenic spots on the PCT in the immediate area north of Stevens Pass – wow! A long retracing of those 8-9 miles back to the rig had be tired and hungry by 7:00pm. More Zeke’s burger and fries, and this time I got the peanut butter milk shake too, as I more than earned it! Alan L. Bauer 9/1/199