Umtanum Creek Canyon — Friday, Nov. 20, 2020

This hike is through terrain that was burned in last Summer's fires, so at some points you are walking on burned ground, and can brush against burned branches, leaving charcoal marks on clothes.  So you need to wash your boots and clothes well after this hike!  The trail is mostly level, and we only went about 2 miles as it petered out in shrubbery.  It's possible to go further but we had a leashed dog which made it difficult so chose to turn around.  We saw only three other people the entire hike.  Much of the trail is in shade but part of the trail cuts across scree on the north side, fully in sun on our clear day.  Some of the trail is hard to find with the burn, so we were forced to make our own way through burned areas at times.  It was very cold starting out, low 30s, and gradually warmed a bit in the later afternoon. Gloves and hats needed!  We arrived at the well-marked gravel trail head about 11:30 and started hiking around 12, then returned at 2:30, so a relatively short hike. The scenery is spectacular due to the contrast of live plants with the burned soil and trees/shrubs.  Part of the south wall of the canyon is fully burned, making the many criss-crossing animal trails much more visible than usual. We have been to this trail previously several times and this was one of the more interesting hikes due to the fire impacts.