Beautiful hike. Perfect temps. Very relaxing. Enjoyable. Cant figure out how to post pics of hike. 

I took a walk in Cowiche Canyon from the east end on this sunny, very warm afternoon.  I walked just past the winery trail and back.  It's very colorful in the canyon right now.  The sumac is at its peak, the rabbitbrush is still yellow, if a bit past, and the shrubby willows are starting to turn, but it will still be a few weeks before the trees turn.  

I took an afternoon walk in Cowiche Canyon today.  What a relief to be walking in some wild lands after almost a month of being something close to house-bound by the smoke.  The sumac is turning red and the rabbitbrush yellow, but it will be a month before the trees start turning.  It was a partly sunny afternoon with a little breeze.

What a treat this trail is! Yes, we hiked it midday, and yes, it was in the mid-90s, but Cowiche Canyon is well worth a visit. We parked at the eastern end of the trail and walked through the canyon, then turned around and walked back. Despite the heat, we saw magpies, cliff swallows, hawks, vultures, a covey of quail, and a Bullock's oriole, a gorgeous orange, black, and white bird. No snakes, darn it, but plenty of coyote scat. And several somewhat hot-looking marmots scooting between burrows to keep cool. We saw one marmot lying in the cool grass underneath a lawn sprinkler (the trail passes several private homes).

The canyon narrows at a few places where the walls press in, but the trail is wide, flat, and gravel-covered. We stuck to the main canyon trail, which follows year-round Cowiche Creek, but there are several intriguing side trails, including one to a winery (mentioned in other trip reports) and some to the canyon rim, where you can likely get a great view of Mt. Adams. Other than one other intrepid hiker and a mountain biker, we saw no one on the trail, probably because most folks hike it in the cool of the morning or evening. That wasn't possible for us, but we're really glad we did this hike. Many thanks to the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy for their work to make this area accessible to all!

This was a nice short day hike with a break at a winery for a beverage. It was a warm morning. A flat trail until the side trail to the winery. The smell of sage was all along the trail, as well as some of the biggest dandelions i have ever seen, lol.

The climb up to the winery was a nice short workout. When we were just about to head back, there was live music starting up.

Not a bad hike for my buddy. This was his second hike and he did well on it.