Backpacking - Paintbrush Canyon and Leigh Lake

Hi Blog! On June 17th, we began a backpack trip that would take us around String Lake, and up into Paintbrush Canyon between Rock Chuck Peak and Mt. Woodring. Here is the view as we came around the back side of String Lake.

Here is Paintbrush Creek as it rushes down the canyon on its way to Leigh Lake. There are several designated camping sites inside the Lower Paintbrush camping zone.  They are first come first serve.  We were hoping for a site with easy access to the creek.

The first couple of miles of the trail were in and out of a conifer forest.  We found a great camp site and set up our tent and hung our food bag.  We were soon back on the trail up the canyon to see if we could make it to Holly Lake, a small glacial tarn surrounded by mountain peaks.  The trees soon gave way to beautiful alpine meadows with views of the glaciers high above.

As the glaciers melt, the water just comes rushing down the mountain side taking the path of least resistance (because you know resistance is futile).

The higher we climbed, the closer and closer we got to the snow line.  The wet slushy snow kept us from reaching Holly Lake.  We just didn't want cold wet feet.

However, all was not lost, as the views from the top of the canyon were amazing.  The big lake in the background is Jackson Lake.  The smaller lake in the foreground is Leigh Lake.  We're going to be camping on the far shore of Leigh Lake tomorrow night.  From here, it seems so far away.

We stopped for a snack before heading back to camp.  We met a few mountain climbers after they made their way down the snowy slope.  One guy found some snow-free boulders to climb down.  The other guy skied down in just hiking boots! (We were taking bets with two hikers dudes to see if he would make it down without breaking anything.)  The one woman in the group simply walked through the snow following the switchbacks on the trail. The mountaineers confirmed our suspicions that the snow wasn't at all pleasant to hike through. The two twenty-something hiker dudes were going to try anyway.  We parted company and watched the two hiker dudes struggle up the snowy cliffside, as the mountaineers scampered down the trail ahead of us.

Back at camp, our kitchen area was right next to the creek along the trail.  Shortly after happy hour, the two twenty-something hiker dudes came by and admitted that they never made it to Holly Lake.  The snow was just too deep, wet and slushy.

Just after diner, a family (mom, dad and 9 year old daughter) came down the trail having hiked up Cascade Canyon, crossed over the Upper Paintbrush Divide (which is completely snow covered) and down Paintbrush Canyon (which was also snow covered). Kudos for the 9 year old for backpacking all that way in the snow!  Demerits to the numbskull parents for putting her in that position.  They were so beat that all they did was set up their tent and go to bed.  We were out early the next day, so we never learned how they fared.

The trip back down the canyon was definitely easier than going up.  It wasn't long before we started running into day hikers.  As we approached the trailhead to Leigh Lake, we met one family from France - mom, dad and 30-something daughter.  We kept running into them as we hiked around Leigh Lake.  We'd stop for a photo op and they would pass us.  They would stop and we'd pass them.  We soon found ourselves at our campsite looking back up into Paintbrush Canyon.  The French Family passed again, and we invited them in to sit a spell and enjoy the view from the beach.

We set up the tent, bear boxed the food bag and headed out on a day hike to Bearpaw Lake and Trapper Lake. As we passed Bearpaw, we ran into the French Family again. This time they invited us to join them, and we shared some great Belgian Chocolate stuffed with orange filling - yum!  We continued onto Trapper Lake. The French Family was not far behind.  A small creek feeds into Trapper Lake and there are remnants of old beaver dams. No beavers - trappers got them years ago.

As we headed back to camp, the sky grew ominous and we could hear thunder rumbling in the distance.  We got back in time to hide under our rain tarp as the storm passed. When the French Family came by, we offered them shelter under the tarp, but they were very anxious to get back to their car not knowing how severe the storm would be.  We bid them a fond farewell and bon journee!

It only took about an hour for the scary storm clouds to move on.  The sky turned blue, and we hit the beach for happy hour and dinner.  Luckily, we had just finished our wine when a park ranger came by to check our camping permit.

We ended up building a camp fire, not so much to keep warm, but to ward off those pesky mosquitos.  Once the sun set, they came out in droves.  All this natural beauty has a price to pay.  We went to bed early so we could get up before the sun rose to see the mountains change colors.  We were not disappointed.  We have dozens of photos, each one more spectacular than the next.

At first, we didn't want to leave such a quiet and peaceful lake.  However, the mosquitos woke up shortly after the sun hit our campsite, so it made packing up and leaving quite easy.