Paintbrush/Cascade Canyons

A very cool adventure and bucket list item was crossed off our list this weekend! We went up Paintbrush Canyon to the Paintbrush Divide, down the other side to Lake Solitude, and then down Cascade Canyon in Grand Teton Park. We covered 21 miles, and it's now one of our favorite trails. So amazing!

Starting out at Sting Lake
Jenn, Tricia, Mark, Veronika, Mat

Crossing between Sting and Leigh Lake to head up the canyon.

We saw a mama deer with two babies not far up the trail. So cute!

 It was a super foggy and cloudy day. It made everything look so cool! On our way up the canyon, we had to walk through the fog. It was cool to see it up ahead of us, go through it, and then turn around and see it below us.

The fog rolling toward us. Also, look closely to find the moose in this picture. 

There she is!

We were all standing in the fog watching the moose.

Coming out above the fog. Don't mind my hair in the rest of the pictures. From this point on the fog made it grow bigger and bigger! It was quite fantastic by the end of the run! :)

We passed the most beautiful little mountain lake before we got to Holly Lake. I don't think this one even has a name, but I loved it!

Selfie at Holly Lake

We had already climbed a long ways, and we weren't even half way up yet. The clouds around us looked so cool though!

Jenn and I above Holly Lake.

The mountain range looked so cool! This was on the left hand side going up Paintbrush Canyon.

We only had to cross one snow field. I was glad, because I don't like them much.

We climbed really high, really fast! The trail was so cool, and the view around us was incredible! We were well above the tree line, and everything around us was so rugged!

A video of our surroundings right before we got to the divide.

We made it to the top! I've never seen views quite like this. Our elevation was 10,700 feet.

Our fun group!
Jenn, Veronika, Tricia, Mark, Mat

The girls

I love doing the IFTR group runs. We meet the coolest people! Everyone is so different, but we all share of love for running,  adventuring, and mostly for being in places like this.

Coming off the other side of the divide was super cool! The trail was awesome, the views were awesome, the clouds were awesome, everything was just awesome!

The girls! The clouds were covering the Tetons, but they made everything else look super cool and eerie.

Heading down to Lake Solitude!

Mark and Mat

Lake Solitude. This is where we had lunch, and Mat and Veronika took a swim in the lake! They are nuts! I kept saying that if Bailey was with us, she would have been in the lake with them.

The canyon behind us in this picture is Cascade Canyon. That's what we went down, and it was beautiful! 

This was a great day for moose. We saw three (plus the antlers of a 4th one).

A video of our cute little moose friend!

Inspiration Point overlooking Jenny Lake.

We rounded a corner and it all of a sudden looked like fall! I swear the colors were changing as we were coming down the canyon!

This is one of the most popular hikes in Grand Teton Park. I can totally see why! I loved every step of it! Most people backpack in and do it in two or more days. I love that I have a group of people crazy enough to bust it out in one long hike/run! So fun! It will definitely be on our list to do again!