Lake Janus and Grizzly Peak

The Smithbrook trailhead gives you two choices at Union Gap: left to popular Lake Valhalla, right to Lake Janus. Most people go left. That works in your favor. The PCT drops through talus and huckleberry thickets to Janus, a shallow 40-foot-deep lake ringed by eight campsites and two pit toilets. Cutthroat trout dimple the surface. It is a solid backpacking destination on its own, but the real draw lies farther north.

Beyond the lake, the trail climbs through huckleberry meadows onto a ridge crest at 1,570 meters with views of Baring, Index, and the Evergreen Mountain lookout. Glasses and Margaret lakes sit below, though the scramble paths down are steep and overgrown. The final push to Grizzly Peak gains 120 meters through wildflower meadows to a broad, rounded summit rather than a sharp point. On a clear day you can pick out Rainier, Glacier Peak, Sloan's spire, the Monte Cristo group, and the Poet Peaks along Wenatchee Ridge.

Water is reliable until the ridge. A creek flows 1.2 km before the lake, and a small stream feeds a campsite at 1,510 meters. North of that campsite, plan on carrying what you need to the summit and back. Bears and gray jays frequent the lake area, so hang your food properly if you camp.