Lake Solitude

jasondouglas78, on June 2, 2007, said:

I was thinking about hiking to Lake Solitude. Can you tell me about it. jasondouglas78@hotmail.com Thanks for the photos.

Ryan Calhoun, on June 3, 2007, said:

The hike through Cascade Canyon is pretty easy. Most of the elevation change is below Inspiration Point in the switchbacks right at the beginning. It's only about 6 miles. You can either take a ferry across Jenny Lake, or add another mile and a half to the parking lot. The hike can also be done as a 20 mile loop.

The upper canyon gets very deep snow, so July and August are your best bet. You'll have cool weather, wildflowers everywhere, and a chance to see bear and moose.

A stretch of trail covers lots of loose rock (visible in GE) which is probably easier to cover in tennis shoes than boots.

Lots of big rocks and firs around the lake itself are a nice place to have lunch. Bring bug spray in case the mosquitoes are out.

If you go back down to the Jenny Lake parking lot, it will be faster to walk the last mile and a half than take the ferry...depending on the time of day, the wait can be over an hour b/c of all the people going just to see Hidden Falls.

The loop around Jenny Lake is very nice too, either the day before or after.

Enjoy your trip, Jason!

jasondouglas78, on June 4, 2007, said:

Thanks for the help. We hope to go in late August. I'll post photos then.

ImpStout, on June 28, 2007, said:

Nice shot. Brings back memories. My son and I did the loop in one day. Probably one of the hardest day hikes I have done. The air was full of smoke from a Canadian forest fire. It was our 3rd day in WY and we had come from sea level so at Solitude at over 9000 ft the air was bad. Inspiration Point can be REALLY crowded by mid day. Actually is was down right annoying on the return:).

mcmorraninjapan, on June 30, 2007, said:

This is a beautiful shot - well deserving of the many views. Thank you for the nice comment on my shot of Asahidake in Japan. It's the first shot I ever uploaded. I wanted to show the same mountain in GE in summer.

Nayt1980, on July 1, 2007, said:

Nice picture, your photos show me that the nature of USA is very beautiful

Marina Cerávolo, on August 26, 2007, said:

Nice place, nice shot, i liked it. Greetings from Brazil.

Ryan Calhoun, on August 26, 2007, said:

Thanks, Marina. It's a beautiful place, and well worth the hike to get there. Greetings from the US.

♫ Swissmay, on April 21, 2008, said:

Ryan, I see that I missed so many of your impressive photos. The water is so clear and the name solitude obviously is the right name. Very peaceful!

Greetings, May

Ryan Calhoun, on April 21, 2008, said:

Thanks May! Of course, the peacefulness increases as the temperature decreases. But even in the summer there is enough space around the lake for everyone. On the map you can see that this island is not out in the middle at all, but right next to shore. This place really deserved a long panorama, but my camera and I were still new at the time, and it didn't occur to me.

Greetings, Ryan

Ryan Calhoun, on September 22, 2008, said:

Thanks, NW!