Cascade Canyon

4 Sept 2018. During my week-long trip to Wyoming last summer, I actually spent more time in Grand Teton National Park than Yellowstone. Prior to visiting, I had heard many positive things about Grant Teton, Yellowstone’s companion to the south. It is smaller, and less crowded than the more iconic park, but certainly had its share of visitors over Labor Day weekend.

Glaciers on the Teton Range.

The Park encompasses a small granitic mountain range with high vertical relief, and is part of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. The short range runs from south to north and is adjacent to a wide flat valley situated to the east. The dramatic vertical difference between the valley (which lies at about 7000 ft) and the higher of the Teton peaks (which rise to about 14,000 ft) owes it origin to north-south fault activity. Repeated occurrences of large earthquakes led to the uplift of a large block of granite that became the Teton Range.

Deep valleys among the mountains offer some beautiful scenery and opportunity for exploration. Glacial activity has played at least some role in carving out this topography, and there are some small glaciers that are still visible on the eastern side of the range. Glaciers have also presumably contributed to the presence of many of the lakes at the base of the higher mountains. A range of small to large lakes occur at a modest elevation above the valley floor, their water corralled by sills of rock that I assume were pushed out by glacial activity when glaciers were much larger than they are today.

Just south of Grand Teton, there is a deep east-west running valley named Cascade Canyon. Starting near String Lake one morning in early September, MWS and I ventured into the canyon for a 17-20 mile hike that is probably the longest day hike I have ever done.

To ascend up into the canyon there is some elevation gain from String Lake, but once the valley begins to narrow the hike is relatively flat for several miles. The trail on the canyon floor runs along an alpine creek that fans out in some areas, supporting small alpine meadows of Carex sedges or other wetland plants. On the north side of the valley the vegetation becomes more sparse, grading into fields of granitic scree that then slope up even more abruptly into steep granitic walls.

The head of Cascade Canyon near Solitude Lake.

Cascade Canyon is not unlike Yosemite Valley in some days, though the latter has a wider flat valley and more impressive waterfalls. But both present an impressive geologic backdrop to wild nature. After several miles the trail bifurcated to the southwest and northwest and we continued in the latter direction into the head of the canyon. Gaining some additional elevation, trees became sparser and the intense afternoon sun had more of a presence. In the open areas there were more flowers including patches of pink Penstemom blooms. Finally the trail reached 9000 ft to take us to the eastern side of Solitude Lake.

Solitude Lake, Grand Teton National Park.

We returned back through Cascade Canyon because time didn’t really permit the additional climb up into Paintbrush Canyon which would have made a wonderful loop hike. I think I very briefly spotted a fox on our return in the canyon, and an osprey perched on a tall dead tree on the last stretch of our hike back to the trailhead.