You have views on both sides of the pass and can see down to Lake Solitude as well as a lake above Lake Solitude. Once you pop out onto the summit of the divide, you’re on a surprisingly flat stretch of trail. The final stretches up to Paintbrush Pass are breathtaking, both because of the scenery and the effort required to keep climbing up the steep terrain. You get out of tree and enter rockier terrain. After the trails reconvene, the alpine feel of the mountains is very strong. We opted for the non-lake trail and to save Holly Lake for a destination hike on another visit. This trail brings you back to the Paintbrush Divide trail in the same distance as staying on the main trail does. At one point, there is a turnoff for Holly lake. It’s much steeper than the Cascade Canyon hike but you have great views up the canyon as well as back to String and Leigh lakes. We had done the very first stretch of this hike already but after turning off onto the Paintbrush Divid Trail, it was all new steps. The day we hiked Paintbrush Divide, we started our loop from the String Lake parking area between first light and sunrise. We looked at that trail and determined we would be back. On that day in August, the conditions would have been clear enough for us to continue hiking but we were already over our comfort zone of hiking distance with the 16 mile out & back to Lake Solitude. And when you’re like us, you can’t help but wonder what is on the other side of a pass like that. Past the lake, the trail climbs up a steep slope toward Paintbrush Divide. But the thing is, when you sit and stop at Lake Solitude, you can see that the trail continues. The hike we took was perfect in every way. The volunteer working quickly pivoted our attention to the hike out to Lake Solitude through Cascade Canyon. As is our custom when we visit a park for the first time, we first stopped by a ranger station and asked if they knew anything about that hike or would recommend it.
During our first visit to Grand Teton National Park, we were armed with a handful of guidebooks and an idea to complete some sort of lake hike.
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