Hike to Lake Solitude

Hey all! Once again Stafford and I have gone out on a hiking adventure together. This time it was just us, and we were originally planning on hiking around Emma Matilda Lake, but due to extremely big traffic slowdowns we decided to go to a closer location: Cascade Canyon.

To start our Cascade Canyon hike, we begin the all-too familiar hike around Jenny Lake from the String Lake trailhead. We've done this hike more times than we care to say. It's the base hike for lots of common hikes such as Hidden Falls, Inspiration Point, and of course Cascade Canyon. But here's the beautiful view of the Tetons in "Cathedral" awesomeness. God makes some pretty awesome cathedrals. :)

Cathedral view of Tetons from String Lake trailhead.

Once we get to the horse trail that starts going up Cascade Canyon we finally start some real hiking. Stafford, as always, pushes my hiking legs and lungs to high levels. :)

We have a relatively easy, snow-free hike until we reach the fork of Cascade Canyon, where we headed north towards Lake Solitude. Now we start hitting lots of snow, but we just trek through it. It wasn't anything too dangerous since we weren't on any slopes. The snow was also melting a little bit so it was a good softness that helped us at times get footholds instead of sliding off somewhere. Here's a few photos of our surroundings once we got out of the trees:

Stafford hiking up the trail of snow towards Lake Solitude.

Looking back at the Grand Teton (right) and Mt. Owen (left).

Cool little peak.

It wasn't too long after when we hit our original "goal" for a good place to reach for the day. There's this bridge on the trail that goes over the stream running from Lake Solitude down the canyon, and it has a great view of the Tetons. So we stopped, I took pictures, and we did a short video for ya'll to enjoy. :)

Stream running down Cascade Canyon, looking right into the Tetons!

Panorama to get a little more of the view.

Looking up the stream towards Lake Solitude.

After the bridge we hiked through more snow, though it was surprising how many trails people have trodden down through the snow. I didn't think many would attempt it in the snow, but we still met some people along the way. Here's a video of Stafford sliding down to where he thought we should hike:





Fun times as always. :)

So we finally made it to the base of the final hill to get to Solitude. And it was no small hill. In the snow, since you can't really switchback up the normal trail, it's just a straight path directly up the big hill. Talk about burn in the legs! It was pretty grueling, but once we finished it we were greeted by Lake Solitude in all its frozen glory. We walked around to a spot on the side of the lake where there were some big rocks and trees for shade. After stopping for a food break, I started looking around and taking photos. Here are some shots and a video while we were at the lake:

The only open spot of Lake Solitude, with the Tetons in the background.

Great view, love the colors!

Cool crack through the ice and snow.

Closeup of the Tetons.

Rock in the middle of the lake (yes I was walking across the snow on top of the lake)

Again, love the color!

Really cool that you could see the ice all the way down.

Another view of the lake with Tetons.

Looking the other way to the opposite side of the lake.

We stayed up there relaxing on the rock (and getting sunburnt) for a while and just had a great time hanging out. Here are some photos of us that we took on timer:

Laying down on the rock by Solitude.

Stafford gets to have his own shot. :)

Hiking brothers! But more importantly: brothers in Christ!

And finally a couple more shots before we left:

Awesome full sun ring! :)

Cool wispy clouds streaking across the beautiful scenery. :)

On the way down we were both pretty tired and ready to be done. We slid down several sections to go faster. And along the way we were shouting periodically just in case bears were nearby. We developed a system where I'd shout "Yo!", Stafford replied with "-gibear!", and finally I added "-a!" for the Yankees player Yogi Berra. :) We mixed it up a bit here and there and it was fun. We tried throwing the other person off or try to catch them off guard so they didn't respond quickly. It seemed like every time Stafford would shout "Hey bear!", a marmot would jump out of the bushes or rustle somewhere and scare him since he thought it was a bear. Haha. We were ready to catch a few and dispose of them. :)

When we hit about halfway down the horse trail, we came upon a moose that was off the trail about 50 feet or so that was just laying down resting. He looked pretty tired. Here are a couple photos and a final video for the day:

He wouldn't peak out any more than this. Oh well.. :)

Looking up at him from farther below.

Overall it was a ton of fun. Hiking with Stafford has been a really great time to just get away and enjoy each other's company. We both love doing it for one main reason: the gorgeous views at our destinations. The Lord has blessed us with being able to go see His creation in ways many can't! It's a blessing and joy that I love to share with others here on the blog and elsewhere through my photography. All praise and glory to Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior!


Thanks again for stopping by! :)


"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!"
- Psalm 67