Umtanum Creek Canyon, Umtanum Ridge Crest — Friday, May. 13, 2011

Central Washington > Yakima

Goober Canari and I set out for the sunnier, drier, side of the state with a hike along the Yakima Rim. It took us around 2 hours to get from Puget Sound lowlands to Ellensburg. The Umtanum Creek crossing was not difficult w/ my SUV, the water only being a couple of feet deep. We began the ascent up to Umtanum Ridge from there. We saw the only person we would see up there on a motorcycle. We found the north trailhead which is another old road. We chose to continue in the car and drove almost 4 miles on the rough road before parking and setting out on foot. The views are incredible up on the ridge. Mt Rainier and Mt Adams to the west and the Stuart Range to the north. Skies were clear but it was quite windy, enough to keep us in jackets. We walked to the end of the road and a little ways past to the edge of the ridge. From this vantage point we could see the Yakima River with its many twists and bends, as well as the Mahre Ski Pond. The wildflowers are at their spring peak. The most prevalent are the Balsamroot and Lupine. We also found numerous amounts of flowering Simpson's Hedgehog Cactus. There were many other varieties of wildflowers and the hills were still quite green. We also noted many old fenceposts including corner posts weighted down with rocks. Incredible that settlers at one time attempted to scratch out a living up here. We returned to the car - about 5 miles round trip of hiking. We next set out for the Umptanum Creek trailhead off of Highway 821. Quite a few more folks at the parking lot for that trailhead. We crossed the suspension footbridge and ducked under the RR tracks. We hadn't gone but a few paces before we spotted a PNW Rubber Boa slithering away in the grass. These snakes are supposedly not often seen by people but another WTA writer posted a picture of one recently and now our sighting (it was too quick for my camera). We walked about 3 miles or so along the creek. The temps were warmer down here with less wind. We also saw desert marmots and evidence of beavers (but no beavers) and, at our turnaround point, a rattler (No, not Theo Ratliff, a rattlesnake). Goober's fine trail moxie enabled him to see the rattlesnake on the trail (before one of us stepped on it) and we watched it slither into the tall grass. We would also see a garter snake, making 3 types of snakes sighted. We returned to the car having logged about 10 miles on foot and many more in the car. We encountered few bugs and no ticks (and no Tic Douloureaux). We topped off this great day in the sun and nature with a stop at the Tav in Ellensburg for Super Mother Burgers and cold beverages. I hope to return to this area to do more exploring of the Yakima Rim area. Now is a great time to head here with the comfortable temps, sun, wildflowers, and snow free trails/roads. I wouldn't recommend a passenger car for the drive up to the ridge, however.