Decided to get out in the Wenas and do a day hike before the weather gets too hot.  A little preview of the 50K race that follows the same path and takes place April 23rd.  I decided to do a point to point hike with leaving a car at Umtanum and having my wife pick me up at the Skyline trailhead outside of Selah.  Started at Umtanum at 5:30 a.m. and up to the top of the ridge.  After gaining the ridge the trail heads southish on a road for a few miles, plenty of ups and downs but no real gain to speak of.  Across from Lmuma you have an option of continuing on the road down to the Burbank Valley or splitting off to the left and heading down the hiker trail.  I decided to head down the trail which loses a lot of elevation quickly and is very rocky.   After heading across the valley the trail climbs steeply again for a couple of miles until you reach the top of the ridge signaling the end of the major elevation gain of the hike.  The wind really picked up here high above Roza and with good cell phone service I decided to make a change in plans.  Instead of staying high on the ridge and getting battered by the wind I decided to take one of the unnamed paths that head east from the top of the ridge.  This turned out to be a good idea as the path was dirt instead of the rocky mess that the last portion of the Skyline trail is.  I had the wife pick me up at the Wenas Wildlife area trailhead just off of Buffalo road after the pavement ends.  Pretty uneventful hike really, beautiful day and saw no other people on the trail until the last part above Roza, two solos.  No ticks and no snakes.  Spotted about a dozen deer and quite a few chuckars.  If attempting this hike I would advise going south instead of north, when the wind is blowing normal direction this will mean it is at your back.  If the wind was in my face the entire time the trip would have been a lot less enjoyable.

GPS stats

14.4 miles with 3,822 of gain.  Five hours 42 minutes.

Just the perfect hike to do in March. It was about 60 degrees much of the afternoon. We didn't make it all the way to the vista point, as the incline was significant, plus there were a ton of rocks on the lower half that you really had to watch (I slipped and fell once). Do take poles. Start early in the day, as the trail takes longer than it looks. The silver-green grasses, the chartreuses and whites of the ground cover all created a lovely palette to walk through in the middle part of the trail. Be sure to go before it gets too hot to do this - spring is truly perfect. And cooling our feet in the river afterwards - highly recommended. (NOTE - I tried to attach photos to this but your software doesn't accept regular jpegs. A shame)

Beautiful day to climb a ridge! 

Got a late start driving over from Seattle, and was surprised by the relatively empty lot. A few other groups were heading up the ridge or down the canyon, but not much by way of foot traffic. 

The trail was in great condition - ground nice and firm on the way up, with a smallish section of hard-packed ice that was pretty easy to navigate without spikes. We saw a few small groups coming down as we were heading up, and it was great to see all the off-leash dog owners responsibly control and leash their dogs as they passed. 

Stuart was visible halfway up the ridge, but some clouds were rolling up by the time we made it to the top. We ate some snacks at the top of the ridge, but quickly got chilled by the wind and decided to head back down. 

Grabbed lunch in Ellensburg based off some other hikers' recommendations - Ellensburg Mexican Grill may be the best post-hike nachos I've ever had! 10/10 would recommend, both the nachos and the hike. 

Headed to the Umtanum Creek area today, but I didn't actually do much of Umtanum Ridge. Instead I hiked about 1/2 mile up that trail and then took a left at the Aspen grove. I don't know if this trail has an official name (perhaps Mytho-Man knows?) although I've seen it referred to as "Secret Trail" at one point on NW Hikers. But this trail loops back with views of the parking area and then continues for a number of miles beyond that. There area many views of the river from above - sometimes this requires a bit of off-trail exploration, but it's well worth it. The trail splits after 1.5-2 miles with the left fork closer to river views and the right fork ascending and descending and eventually intersects the other trail. (the right fork is somewhat of a shortcut, but is also steeper and has limited river views.) Did around 7.5 miles today overall. It's steep at the beginning along Umtanum Ridge but the rest of the trail is relatively level.

I didn't see a soul on the trail although just before crossing the bridge on my return there was a hunter about 100 yards behind me who had cornered what looked like a big-horn sheep which was desperately trying to get away and clamoring up the hill. The hunter who appears to be very poor at his "sport" shot around 15 times until he finally hit the animal which then tumbled down back down the hill.

It's too bad we have to endure hunting in these beautiful surroundings. (I'll probably get criticized for that statement, but hikers should also have rights not to feel threatened with loud gunshots - especially close to the trailhead.)

I combined the Vista Trail (up Umptanum Creek Canyon to Umptanum Ridge Crest), Umptanum Road, and the Yakima Skyline Trail for a 15-mile one-way traverse of the YRC ridgeline.

I started at Umptanum Campground, crossed the river, and climbed Vista Trail (slight left after RR tracks) to the crest/Umptanum Road. Compact snow and small ice patches lingered in the shady areas in the canyon. After the trail leaves the canyon and climbs steeply to the crest, snow and mud combined for a bit of a slippery situation. Poles and aggressive trail runners were helpful. At Umptanum Ridge Road I took a sharp left (there's a little cairn). The road had small patches of snow, patchy mud, and a few deep puddles, but it was overall quite a pleasant surface and much preferable to summer dust. I saw two backpackers and an ORV in this section. 

After about three miles the Skyline Trail leaves the road and veers left toward the river. There was part of a cairn left here, but as the road continues straight ahead it could be an easy turn to miss. The route descends steeply and rockily, and I was once again thankful for poles. There was plenty of evidence of bighorn sheep, but sadly I saw none. 

After the trail bottoms out across from Big Pines Campground, it bumps up a little then crosses a meadow. The trail was a bit difficult to discern across the meadow, but fortunately a few well-placed metal stakes helped. At the far side of the meadow is a dry, rocky creek bed (Roza Creek, I think?). Even though I have done this route before, I struggled to find the trail on the far side of the creek, largely due to thick, tall grass and massive tumbleweed piles. Fortunately I had a GPS track and was able to find the route again fairly quickly.  

The trail climbs the ridge again after the meadow crossing—first gradually, then much more steeply as it approaches and follows the edge of the canyon. The ascent was close to three miles, but sunny, expansive views of the canyon in both directions helped. After the grade mellowed (above Ross Dam) the wind picked up a bit after a remarkably still day. I saw one trail runner and two hikers on this section, but strangely no other life at all!

The descent to the Buffalo Road TH was annoyingly rocky and slow, but it was much better (and possibly quicker) slightly damp than when it's dusty. 

No flowers this time of year, but the solitude and clean, arid views were marvelous. Total 15 miles one way, 4500' gain.