Mud Lake — Sunday, May. 11, 2025

Hiked up to Mud Lake from Hwy 410, then continued uphill for a few miles on the green dot road that heads up to the Cleman Mountain ridgeline. This is a stunning walk right now. The lupine are profuse and there are some absolutely spectacular patches of bitterroot in bloom if you explore off the main road a bit. Somewhat surprisingly given the mostly overcast skies and temps in the low to mid-60s, the snakes were out in force. We ran into a rattlesnake in the tall grass near the lake and a healthy sized gopher snake on the road. We've lived in Yakima for 6 years, hiking 100-200 miles a year, and this was the first rattlesnake we've seen. (Crazily, we ran into a second later in the day at a different location.) Dark clouds stayed just up valley most of the morning and afternoon, making for a great photo backdrop with just a few flecks of rain here and there. There are some very scenic groves of Ponderosa pine and aspen, plus views of the high peaks in the William. O Douglass Wilderness if you climb high enough. Overall, this hike greatly exceeded expectations and we'll be adding it to the spring wildflower rotation in future years!