East Rim Waterworks Canyon, Cleman Mountain - Waterworks Canyon Loop — Saturday, May. 3, 2014

Central Washington > Yakima

Kim Brown, HikerJim and I headed over the mountains to Yakima for a hike with the intrepid Cascadians. Led by mytho-man and joined by Cascadian Kim, Bill, Phil, and Ethan, we ventured up fantastically scenic Cleman Mountain via a series of faint boothpaths. We knew it was going to be an adventure when, towards the beginning of the day, mytho-man said, "There's a trail over there, but let's go this way." Our ascent up one of the stairstep ridgelines on 14-mile long Cleman Mountain was on steep, loose gravel. It's entirely possible I wouldn't have made it without Cascadian Kim, who lent me one of her walking sticks, which I used for the whole trip. If you go, you'll want to bring your own set. We enjoyed the wildflowers (which are at their peak right now) on the way to a false summit where we had lunch and happily watched several bighorn sheep frolicking on the slopes around us. After lunch and a bit of a rest, a group of us set off for "the top", which isn't the actual summit of the mountain, but was the highest point we made it to that day. Another group rested at the top for a little while longer before heading down into Waterworks Canyon via a trail with a much more forgiving grade than the one we'd come up. The light was constantly changing, and views only improved as the summit-bound group got higher. At the "the top" we had views of Mount Aix, Nelson Ridge, and a peak we concluded was Old Scab Mountain. Clouds obscured some of the mountains in that area -- I'm sure on a clear day that the views are even more incredible. Our descent was quick, but we all took time to photograph the flowers, as well as the two rattlers we saw on the way in. The lupine and balsamroot are ridiculous right now; every few feet someone pulled out a camera for photos. The bitterroot are ready to pop, too. Visit in a couple weeks and you should see them looking lovely. edit 5.5.2014 - I wasn't effusive enough about how wonderful the company on this hike was. As my first hike in Central Washington, it was wonderful to explore this area with such avid and entertaining hikers as the Cascadians. I had more fun on Saturday than I've had in a long time on a hike. Can't wait to visit again.