Trip Reports

Despite the nice weather, the parking lot was less than half full when we arrived at noon, and the trail wasn't crowded.

Days are getting short, so we didn't hike in more than a few miles before turning around. The trail up to that point was almost like a stroll in the park; just two small stream crossings. The trail branched several times; we always followed the more worn branch. Not sure it even matters...

Other than birds, the only wildlife we saw were several Bighorn sheep (on the south ridge of the canyon).

I took a walk in Umtanum Canyon on this mostly sunny day. There's still quite a bit of fall color left, especially the cottonwoods, though it is definitely past its peak. I hiked up the first sidecanyon to the left as far as the aspen grove at the spring. These trees were still looking very nice. Later in the afternoon I went down to the main canyon, but only went as far as the first big aspen grove. These trees had mostly lost their leaves, but were still attractive anyway. Umtanum Canyon is always a colorful end of Oct - early Nov hike.

This is probably the best time of year to see Umtanum, not too hot and pretty colors everywhere. The foliage should continue to be nice for at least a few more weeks.

Our excitement on the trail today was the dogs finding a decomposing porcupine pelt and getting quills stuck all over their snouts. My son took the photo below of me holding Ruby as I was struggling to remove quills. What we didn't see was the rattle snake in the photo just to the right of Ruby and below my arm. A few seconds later I was standing ON the snake when my son yells "SNAKE!!" and we both had heart attacks.

It was too cold for the snake to have much energy and he gave us a feeble rattle and hid under a bush. I finished removing the quills and got out of there, although not necessarily in that order.

As a side note, those quills hurt and are hard to get out. I got one jammed in the end of my finger as I struggled with the dogs, and they are covered with nearly invisible barbs that resist your efforts to pull them out. It's quite painful :D

Umtanum Canyon is a desert oasis in more ways than one. Until July 15, the trail is closed after 3.25 miles to protect the sensitive ecosystem, so it doesn't offer much if you are a mileage hound or a peak bagger. But if you are interested in exploring the floor of a rich desert canyon enlivened by Umtanum Creek, you may love this hike. Go now while the rattlesnakes still sleep! Go early for the best chance of spotting wildlife. Go anytime if you want to avoid crowds...though the parking lot was full of people launching rafts and kayaks into the Yakima River, I ran into only a handful of people, most with big scopes for the abundant and varied bird watching to be found in the canyon.

On the trail expect to be intoxicated with the scent of sage and wild rose (still blooming, but not for much longer), Lewis's Mock Orange and what smelled to me like wild chamomile. The creek meanders along the floor of the canyon punctuated periodically by beaver dams and quiet pools. The sun was bright but tempered today by high clouds. I sat for a while at the edge of the creek and no sooner was I settled when a doe tiptoed out of the high grass and passed within 6 feet of me. Rumor has it that a herd of big horned sheep live in the canyon, but I did not have the priveledge of seeing them today.

To get there head east on I90 to the Canyon Road exit in Ellensburg. Drive south on the Canyon Road following the Yakima River. Turn into the Umtanum Recreation Area parking lot just past milepost 17. Pay $5 to park. Bring sunscreen and lots of water and bug stuff. Have fun crossing the suspension bridge to get to the trail.

We had hiked this trail 2 1/8 miles from the TH a few weeks ago and had seen several Lewis's woodpeckers flying around an area with many snags. While I baby sat our 2 young grandsons at Big Pines CG, Bob and our youngest son returned today to view them again. They were feeding their young and fun to watch. They also saw goldfinch, Lazuli Buntings, and yellow-breasted chats. As an added note we had been camping at Big Pines since Friday AM and while there saw nighthawks each day in the late afternoon and evening. They are great fun to watch and listen to!

I took a walk in Umtanum Canyon today in preparation for an interpretive walk that I am leading for the Get Intimate with Shrub-Steppe event in the canyon on Saturday. I hiked the trail up the first sidecanyon to the left as far as the watering trough. After lunch I went back to the main canyon & hiked as far as the creek crossing. The trees are leafing out & there is nice balsamroot, phlox, serviceberry, golden currant, & oregon grape in bloom. There were also hillsides of balsamroot &/or phlox in bloom in the Yakima Canyon. The day was partly cloudy & mild. A nice walk.

Umtanum Creek and ridge. 4/8/09

Imagine my surprise to see Pelicans on the Yakima river! I had only seen them over at the ocean and never thought of them as fresh water birds. According to my book, the lump on the bill indicates they were breeding.

All that excitement before we had even begun the hike– this was clearly going to be a wonderful day. We were met by strong gusty winds in the parking lot, the suspension bridge was swinging and squeaking before we stepped a foot onto it.

Sun filtered through high clouds with occasional sun breaks. At the start of the day, the wind was cold, by mid-day it was t-shirt hiking weather, the wind still gusty enough that I had to do a “two step” to maintain balance at times, but without the sting. As the sun settled behind the ridge, out came the long sleeves again.

I was worried about rattlesnakes, so inadvertently mistimed this hike. We only saw one snake, (not a rattler) but also, only the most minuscule flowers were in bloom. The trees were bare, with out leaves to cushion their branches they rattled and clacked in the breeze. Larger ones squeaked and groaned as they swayed.

After crossing the railroad tracks we went on the trail to the left, up the canyon to the ridges and hills above. The path kept luring us up and up. We would say, “okay just to the top of this ridge”, only to realize at the “top” that it was not the top at all, and we still wanted to see what was “up there”. Finally selecting a windswept hill, we sat in a grassy place to have lunch while we listened to the songs of two Larks singing to each other, each perched on it’s own sage bush.

We saw no real wildlife, but lots of droppings and tracks. I am excited, I believe I saw my first cat tracks. I am not sure it would be a cougar, they were only about 2 1/2 inches. Perhaps a Bobcat, though. I need to search my books, to be sure. It certainly seemed to be a likely location, going up a cliffy bank away from a small creek.

With the leaves only beginning to bud out on a few bushes, and very few flowers, the colored rocks and lichen (?) on them seemed more striking then usual. Finally we started down, so we could have time to walk down the Umtanum Creek trail before going home.

The creek was running pretty high. The old beaver dam is still intact. They must do some pretty good construction when they build them! Down near the creek is where we saw the snake, slowly moving across the trail in the warm sun. Nyla said it looked like a Garter snake, and my book backed her up on it. It was about 2 1/2-3 feet long, and very thin. Later in the day as we were hiking back to the car, we heard a Mourning Dove. What a sweet mellow sound…

What a wonderful hike, and nice break from snow shoeing! by Trail Snail

I took a walk in Umtanum Canyon this afternoon. I left my truck about noon under sunny skies and walked a mile or so up the canyon to where major side canyons come in from both sides. Most of the canyon was in shade, but here it was sunny until, of course, I sat down for lunch, when the clouds moved in. It stayed mostly cloudy for the rest of the day, though there was a fairly nice sunset as I drove home through the Yakima Canyon. The trail was compacted enough that it was easy walking without snowshoes or traction devices. The most difficult part was the suspension bridge, which was very icy. I didn't see much wildlife today: only one bald eagle across the river as I drove up the canyon, a big horn sheep way up on the ridge behind me as I ate lunch, a porcupine in the top of a ponderosa pine near the mouth of the canyon that some folks from Seattle were trying to photograph, and a female downy woodpecker going after seeds on the dried mullein stalks, but the canyon itself was beautiful.