“No man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself.”
Seneca
The weather this past week in the Tetons continued to be abnormally wet for this time of year, and heavy rain dominated the forecast. The Paintbrush-Cascade Loop is an absolute Teton classic and quite possibly my overall favorite hike. I have really been looking forward to it, but wasn’t super excited to do it in a complete washout. My friend, Matt, agreed to go with me earlier in the week, and while I was looking forward to the hike, I probably wouldn’t have gone if he hadn’t committed. I wanted to be able to see the views and enjoy the hike, so was strongly considering putting it off, but at one point, he sent me a text that basically said “I have a rain jacket, LFG!!!” I was in.
The hike begins at the String Lake Trailhead and we made it up there around 7 AM for our 19 mile hike. The morning was clear and cool, and it was a great start to the day. Matt took the lead and thanks to his conditioning and 6’4” long legs he set a rapid pace. With all my recent hiking though I was able to keep up pretty well and the miles passed quickly. I have started to sense that I am in better shape than I was at the beginning of the summer which honestly feels pretty good.
Heading up Paintbrush Canyon is really beautiful, and I prefer to do the loop hike in this direction. Getting up to Paintbrush Divide this way is steeper than going the other direction, so it allows you to get the steep part over with in the morning, and have a more gradual descent for the rest of the day. Also, there is a lot of loose rock and scree on the Paintbrush Canyon side of the divide, and I prefer to be going up that rather than down.
We passed a couple of groups who had clearly backpacked the Teton Crest Trail, and for the most part, they looked pretty haggard. They had endured at least two, if not three, nights of torrential rain, thunder, lightning, and hail. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for them spending their vacations backpacking through the Tetons in a monsoon, but I also suspect that they will carry the memory of this trip with them for a lifetime.
Crossing Paintbrush Divide at 10,700 feet we stopped for an early lunch and to take in the view of Mount Moran and the northern Tetons, Cascade Canyon to the south, and Idaho to the West. We could easily spot our next objective, Lake Solitude, down in the valley a few miles away. Also, we could see Mica Lake which is an incredible greenish glacial lake perched above and south of Lake Solitude.
Continuing down the trail we passed several more groups and also my across-the-street neighbor (small world) and a trail crew doing maintenance on this part of the trail They work 8 day shifts, and they had been camped at Lake Solitude for a week, and it seemed that they were probably ready to dry out in civilization as well. The clouds had been building all morning, and this is about the time that we heard our first thunder – a loud 10 second rumble that echoed throughout the valley. Luckily, we were headed for lower elevation and the forest, and after another snack at Lake Solitude, we reached the trees.
Just after leaving Lake Solitude, it thundered and lightninged more and began to rain. The rain was not particularly heavy, but steady. The potholes and low sections of the trail began to fill with water, and before long, most of the trail was a creek. We tried to side step the larger puddles, but there was no point. Our feet were soaked. Then, the hail began. It started off around pea-sized but quickly became about the size of a small marble. Also, my the outside of my right knee began to become steadily more painful, and I’m pretty sure I was developing IT band syndrome. It was honestly all a little unpleasant.
Sometimes things are a little unpleasant. Sometimes they are downright miserable. The Stoics believed that this was just part of life, and more importantly necessary. In fact, although they were mostly wealthy, many Stoics would practice voluntary discomfort. They would make themselves uncomfortable in order to gain inner strength and resiliency. I realize his isn’t some radical idea, and we should all do this, and many of us do. We need the cold to appreciate the warmth, the hunger to appreciate the meal, and the cold feet and pelting hail to appreciate our homes. We should all train our minds and our bodies to deal with discomfort, so we are better prepared to face the inevitable adversity that will enter all our lives.
So, between the rain, the hail, the sloshy trail, and my worsening knee, I was plenty uncomfortable. I embraced it though. I embraced the suck. I dealt with it, kept my thoughts positive, and kept going. More than tolerate it, I enjoyed it. As we finished the last few miles around the north side of Jenny Lake, the rain let up and the sun even poked through a little. We also saw a bull moose in velvet, and we finally cruised back to the trailhead. We finished the trail a little uncomfortable, a little beat up, but a lot satisfied with the day, and happy with what we had accomplished.
Mileage – 19.1 miles
Time – 8 hours, 19 minutes
Big animals – one deer, one moose
People – many