I decided to try to try to get some miles in on the PCT and see how far I could make it from Smithbrook and scout the trail a bit for a trip I'm thinking of doing later this week.

I arrived at the parking lot just after dawn and found it about half full, presumably mostly from people camping somewhere, but maybe I got beat to the trailhead for a second day in a row. The road to Smithbrook is in excellent shape. It's still a gravel road in the middle of the cascades, but any normal height car could make it without issue.

The Smithbrook section to the PCT is also in great shape. There's one bigger log that's kind of fallen straight down the trail, but completely on the ground so it's just kind of a big step to get on top of it, walk along it, and another to get down on the far side.

Smithbrook to Janus was also in excellent shape. I'm assuming someone did some blowdown work on this because I don't recall seeing anything crossing the trail. The last bits of snow were just melting off the trail right before the lake, but they were so small they'll almost certainly be gone by tomorrow.

The bugs early in the day were in rare form. Just clouds of bugs any time you stopped moving. Unfortunately for me. I kind of wanted to spend some time at the lake, but I got out of there as quickly as possible. Oddly, I wasn't getting bit much even when I had to stop. Most of the bugs seemed smaller than mosquitos and wanted to land on my face, but the only thing that landed on my legs where I could see them were a few mosquitos. The bug situation was much improved further along the trail and when I came by the lake on my way back the bugs didn't bother me nearly as much. Not that there weren't bugs, because the air was literally covered in them, but they weren't the biting type at that point I guess?

The trail continued to be snow free until I reached the top of the ridge after Lake Janus. From there until I turned around the trail was roughly 50% covered with snow. There was one spot early on that required a bit of concentration, but everything else was easily navigated. Post-holing was definitely possible in places and you crossed a few small streams on snow bridges that were obviously getting very thin and needed to be jumped over. I don't actually recall any blowdowns on this section either. Did some superhero get in some major early season trail work or did we just not have a bad winter for blowdowns.

I made it all the way to the open meadow at the high spot a mile or so past Grizzly Peak, roughly 9 miles from the trailhead. Grizzly peak itself was still completely covered in snow, but this next rise was almost completely melted out for whatever reason.

I only passed a few people past the Smithbrook junction, all headed north on the PCT. I would've loved to get some good beta from a southbound person on how the trail looks a bit further north, but I'm guessing it's pretty similar at least until you get closer to White Pass.

Overall:
-Forest road to Smithbrook TH seemed to host a lot of debris, but any car can make it, just go slow. No facilities at TH. Parking lot capacity maxes out around a dozen or so cars, so overflow parking was along the forest road. As you can image, the row of flanking cars can be intense on sunny days. Also 600ft down the road (parallel to the trail) lies an additional tiny parking area for a few cars. 
-Trail to Lake Valhalla is SUPER popular, plenty of families, dogs, daytrippers, etc. This is not the trail for solitude. Not sure why it's so popular, possibly because it's easily accessible from Hwy 2, not a strenuous trail, yet still very scenic winding through the forest with peak-a-boo views beyond. In addition, the lake boasts dramatic mountainous backdrops, and also sports a sandy beach. I'm glad I went, but next time would chose a diff destination.
-Trail overall in great condition, gently graded with well crafted switchbacks. Trail is mostly shaded which I appreciated.
-No reliable running water sources from TH until the inlet of Lake Valhalla.

Day 1: Smithbrook TH -> Lake Valhalla (side trip to Mt McCausland and additional wanderings along the PCT) ~7mi
-Turnoff to Mt McCausland is unmarked. Nice vantage viewpoints of the lake as you gain elevation. Trekking poles would have been nice for one short section, but most of the trail is sandy and not as slippery as scree. Trail turns away from the lake near the summit, follow it to reach the summit with the registry box. Smoke marred the view a bit and generated a sheen of haze over everything.
-Not that many campsites at Lake Valhalla, noted 2 sites before the beach, and 1 site after the beach. If you're up for the narrow overgrown lakeshore bootpath (some parts near eroded) in the counterclockwise direction, you can reach the outflow of the lake and a shaded area with plenty of spots for camping. I did see people also camping on the minor beaches (not the big one by the day use only sign). If the lake view isn't mandatory, I counted at least 3 dry spots along the PCT (skip the turnoff from the PCT to the lake, and keep on ascending). You'd have to get to the lake for water (unless you're good with standing pools of water in the meadow near the intersection of the PCT and turnoff to the lake).

Day 2: day trip to Lake Janus ~8mi

-Even though about 4 other parties camping at the lake, voices carry in that area, so woke up to various conversations.
-If searching for solitude, head north on the PCT towards Lake Janus, only ran into one other hiker and 2 backpacking parties north of the intersection of the PCT with the path to Smithbrook TH.
-Lake Janus was not as dramatic visually as Lake Valhalla, more marshy but absolutely deserted. Found plenty of camping sites, counted at least 10.
-Started drizzling in late afternoon, so it got quiet early.

Day 3: Lake Valhalla -> Smithbrook TH ~3.1mi
-Woke up to dogs barking, but wanted to hightail it out of there anyway. Ran into numerous parties on the way out.

Got to the Smithbrook Trailhead at 7:15 and was the only car on a rainy Monday morning. Decided to go check out Lake Janus today and hope that eventually it would clear out for Valhalla. To get to Lake Janus you take the PCT turnoff. To get to the turnoff it was 1.36 mile and 630 feet elevation gain. From there it was 2.25 miles to Lake Janus, lots of the trail was overgrown and wet and we kept thinking we were gonna see a bear. Lake Janus was nice and peaceful, spent about 10 minutes having some snacks then heading back to the trail to see Valhalla. Was also going to do Mount McCausland but it was just too cloudy. Went up a bit and took some photos and then went down to Lake Valhalla. We saw 6 separate hikers doing the whole PCT and they are all under 200 miles from the finish line…. BEASTS! Round trip on this cloudy day 12.2 miles and 2,769 feet elevation gain.  

Went to this almost forgotten lake on the pct trail. Went up to the pct via the smithbrook trail and turned right on the pct. To the left is Valhalla lake.trail is a bit bushy,but easy to follow. 2 miles from the junction with the Valhalla trail,you come to Janus lake. Good sized lake with marshy meadows around most of it.bring a raft if you want to fish here. Good solitude,as most people who visit here are thru hikers and not day hikers. 7 miles round trip,with about 1400 ft gain,in two sections.

Our party of four arrived at the Smithbrook trailhead parking lot about 9:30 on a cloudy/drizzly Wednesday morning, it was nearly full, but much better than a sunny weekend when cars are parked up and down the road as well.  The Smithbrook road is rougher than the last time I was there a couple of years ago and the brush along the road could be cut back 3-4 feet each side.

The trail is "good", some rocky places, especially as you cross a few permanent rock slides, and being in the forest a lot some very smooth parts. Trail traffic to Union Gap was minimal in the morning. Most day hikers headed south to Lake Vahalla, we headed north to Lake Janus, and almost immediately met a PCT through hiker going south.  Side story about that: Nearly all Mexico-Canada through hikers bypassed the Sierrras because of the extreme snow conditions, and left the trail at Bishop, CA northbound, per the hiker.  This hiker, instead of rejoining the PCT just north of the Sierrras went to the Candian border and was hiking south to Bishop.  We would later, returning south from the lake to Union Gap meet 12-15 through hikers, about a month ahead of schedule, all who said they'd go back and finish the Sierras.

We saw folks of all ages in addition to the PCT hikers, being mid-week, but mostly younger, teens and 20s, and older, retired-ish ;-), and a number of happy dogs.

There are fireweed in bloom, lupine have gone to seed. Not a huge number of wildflowers overall as the trail is mostly in light to medium shade. Open rock crossings are the best places for flowers.  There is a nice water slide kind of stream crossing along the PCT section (Union Gap to the lake), mentioned in the hike description.

The lake was serene, water lilies with a few yellow blooms, water grass, the usual campsites, just one in use. There is a toilet, a stock camp, but no "sign" of any stock on the trail.

I'd recommend this for those who want a little more distance that Valhalla and won't be getting a dramatic vista of the lake as they approach, and way less foot traffic. Mt. Grizzly is a popular combination with this lake.