Umtanum Creek Canyon — Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011

Central Washington > Yakima

Brenda, Ethan, & I took a hike up Umtanum Canyon today. The forecast was for cloudy skies & a 40% chance of precip, but we started under partly cloudy skies & by noon it was mostly sunny & warm. We hiked about 1/2 mile beyond the second creek crossing, then returned to the crossing & climbed a buttress on the north side of the canyon for lunch. The views up canyon from here were especially nice. We lazed around here for close to 2 hours soaking up the views & the sun before heading back to the car. There were lots of others out enjoying the beautiful day, but it never seemed crowded. There was still quite a bit of green in the trees in the lower part of the canyon, but after the first crossing the fall color just got better & better. What a wonderful hike!