Umtanum Creek Canyon — Wednesday, Jul. 4, 2012

Central Washington > Yakima

Nice Fourth of July hike in the eighties. Brought our dog with us. The canyon is wide at the confluence with the Yakima with a flat bottom and high basalt cliffs and bluffs on the sides. To find the trail after crossing the suspension bridge, go under the railroad tracks and to the left (south) along the tracks. The trail is signed. It says the trail is closed at 3 point something miles. We figure we went about 3 miles. We didn't reach an official closure point but the last three quarters mile was a serious bushwack so we called it good. Lots of signs of beaver activity there. There is a real nice flat camp site on the creek at about two miles in a grove of trees. A small owl with bright yellow eyes was perched on a big log there and let us get quite close. It just blinked at us indifferently. As previous reports indicated, this hike is a real tick fest so do a thorough search when you get back to your car before leaving. My wife found at least seven in her hair. A pretty hike all in all.