Snow Mountain Ranch and Cowiche Mountain — Tuesday, Apr. 5, 2022

Well, it wasn't the most fun hike ... but it was definitely an epic adventure.

I went out to Snow Mountain Ranch, a beautiful system of trails close to Yakima. Cowiche Canyon Conservancy does a fantastic job with these trails (and many others) - I'm grateful that we have places like this to find renewal (though today was slim on the renewing). 

There is a large gravel parking area at the trailhead, you can't miss it. No passes needed. The sun was shining, it was around 40 degrees, but the wind. OH THE WIND. Howling from the start. I'm used to the wind on the upper ridges of these trails, but it was strong from the trailhead. 

And did I mention the SNOW? We had this rare April snowfall last night in Yakima, and some of it stuck around. Half inch covering the trail right from the parking lot. On the upper ridges, I was stomping through a few inches of snow at times. It was strange - and beautiful - to see the wildflowers poking through the snow; yellows and purples in a sea of white. The snow never made route finding difficult, but it was slippery in a few places. I'm glad I had boots and poles for some stability.

I wore hiking pants, long sleeve shirt, gloves and warm hat. Another layer under my pants would have helped, the wind was cold and blew snow up my pant legs (refreshing, yes, but also uncomfortable). At the top of the ridge, I was hiking and leaning directly into the wind. Snow and dirt constantly blasted my face, my poles were blowing around like propellers. The front of my body soon went numb with cold, so I regularly turned to face the sun, letting it warm me up a bit before turning back into the maelstrom. Honestly, the last time I felt wind like this was at the top of Adams. I actually felt a bit unsafe, and worried about frostbite (even though it was sunny and in the 40s??!?!)

The wind stayed constant as I dropped to lower elevations. Now it was blasting from the side, threatening to shove me off the trail unless I jammed my poles into the snow. I believe my left sinus cavity briefly froze.

A mile down from the top, the wind backed off a little. My bodily fluids thawed, and I was able to better enjoy the flowers, the snow, and the beautiful views.

I went on the Ditch Bank Trail to the Cowiche Mountain Trail East (this way always seems steeper to me, and I was hoping for some good conditioning). From the top, I took Cowiche Mountain Trail West, then the Wildflower Trail. Total of 6.2mi, 1250ft elevation gain, 2 hours total. 

This was a good reminder to be prepared. If I didn't have my warm hat, gloves, and extra layers, it would have been ten times more miserable, and possibly a little dangerous. I only saw one other person, and we both agreed that we were idiots to be out there in that wind :)

While it wasn't that restful or renewing, I was still grateful to be on the trails, grateful for moments of beauty and awe, and definitely grateful for spring break!

Here is a link to great printable/downloadable maps of these trails:

https://www.cowichecanyon.org/trails/