Umtanum Creek Canyon — Thursday, Jun. 17, 2021

Today we walked about 1/2 mile into the canyon hoping to see a lazuli bunting which is one of the reasons we came to the area, but it was not to be. We met Deb Essman who is a board member for the Kittitas County Field and Stream. She and another lady who was there with a botanist for the Department of Fish and Wildlife were 2 who helped reseed the canyon in the fall and during the winter. Deb was excited as she had found a bitterbrush which had survived. The bitterbrush were planted as plugs to give them a better chance of survival. 55# of seed was donated from the Northwest KCFS ands volunteers spread the seed in the fall and throughout the winter before the area was closed for the bridge repair. There is seed leftover so when the rains return to the area, they will need volunteers to plant these. A dusty-maiden plant was a new plant seen today and shown to us by the botanist. There is some poison ivy in the area so one needs to watch for its "leaves of three"! After returning to camp, we drove the Canyon Road to the Umptanum Road and turned left onto the Durr Road to drive to the West end of the canyon.The day was in the mid 90's or higher so we didn't do much walking. We did try to find the trail east which takes you to the parking lot for the Umtanum Recreation Area. Bob did find the beginning of the trail, but it was too hot to go very far.