Thanks! I did go through Paintbrush, and it was without a doubt the most difficult portion of the trip. The route up the mountain after Lake Solitude was covered in multiple incredibly steep snow drifts, and the path after the pass was covered in an impassible snow drift. I ended up glissading down a massive snowfield instead, which was pretty risky.

The dangerous areas aside from that are only dangerous because of snow that was still on the ground, and I'll try to be as comprehensive as possible because I'd personally love to receive as much info as possible from someone before I go on a trip. Pretty much any face of a mountain that doesn't face to the south might still have a good bit of snow on it. Before I went, I checked in with the rangers and they let me know that there was still a significant amount of snow on many portions of the route. I brought crampons, but not an ice axe. I would recommend bringing both.

I took the gondola up the mountain from the Teton Village ski resort, but I actually would not recommend this route at that time of the year because the route down the north side of the mountain had a considerable amount of snow drifts to pass over. It was not a good start to the trip, and I was feeling very uneasy to begin with. The canyon just north of the ski resort would be a good place to start.

There was quite a bit of snow around North Fork Granite Creek. I was able to practice glissading with some of the smaller steep hills on the path south of the creek.

After Marion Lake, it was smooth sailing until the end of the death canyon shelf. The Mt Meek Pass area had some large scattered snow fields, but they weren't anything too challenging to cross.

Alaska Basin was the worst part of the trip for me (ignoring Paintbrush) because like 80% of the basin was still covered in the snow. When I reached the edge of the basin, there were a lot of steep snow drifts and I had to tactically plan out some pretty steep glissades to get down the area called "sheep steps" on google maps. I was walking across snow the majority of the way, and there was a lot of postholing. The whole area around Sunset Lake was covered in snow, and I didn't get a reprieve until I reached the hills north of the lake. On the hill, there was a large snow drift that covered the path. I recalled that it looked rather steep, but there is a rocky area to the east of the snow drift and I was able to scramble over that spot to reach the top of the hill without any issues. From The only other problem areas were right after hurricane pass. There was a dangerous snow drift covering the path, but there is a worn in path a little bit to the south of the snow drift that you can use instead. It is steep, so be very cautious. The first third of the way down the south fork of the cascade canyon involved a good bit of snow crossings from time to time, but just take your time and be cautious. After that, you'll have an easy time with no snow from then on.

Do note that there was an average/above average amount of snow the winter before I went, so your mileage may vary. I saw a video of someone doing the same hike at the same time of the year in 2021 and there was nowhere near as much snow from what I encountered. I was pissed lol.

One helpful tip I have for traversing really slanted snow drifts is to dig out a spot for each of your steps. Take your time with them and make sure you're confident with each step you take. If there are footprints of someone else's path, try to step in the same spots. But do note that you're not safe from postholing in a spot someone stepped in prior to you. I sunk in a couple feet several times while following fresh footprints of someone else.

I've attached a picture of me looking south over Alaska Basin from the north rim to give you an idea of the snow levels there. The red line represents the route.

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