Spectacular day. Just above freezing when we left the parking lot at 9:30 a.m. but mid 50s on the way down. After crossing under the railroad tracks and reaching the trailhead sign, we took the right path to go up the canyon, intending to hang a left after about a mile to go up a side ravine/ridge to reach the ridge crest. 10:00 a.m. left main canyon to hike up a steep ridge finger. Reached ridge crest about noon. Two places required handholds and steep scrambling, though there were other possible routes.  Enjoyed a nice picnic on the primitive bench (careful - it's not very stable), viewing the Enchantments to the north (and possibly Glacier Peak just to the left of Stuart), Rainier, Adams, possibly St. Helens, and Hood. 5 volcanoes in all. Met another couple at the top who came up the main trail to the ridge crest. They reported that it was quite muddy, so we decided to descend back down the same way we had come up. Back at parking lot by 2:30pm. More high resolution photos and story on my blog: http://www.communichi.org/umtanum-canyon-and-ridge/

We went to the right of the sign at the trailhead. It was muddy, but easy to stay out of the mud by walking in the grass. My kids loved it and treated it like a mini obstacle course. About a third of a mile in is a neat beaver dam. The trail becomes impassible about 1 1/3 mile in. Towards that it’s hard to stay on the trail, so make sure to watch where you are going. It was a great hike with kids. Very flat

Beautiful hike. No flowers yet, but the moss was gorgeous. We turned left at the sign and went uphill. The was a few really muddy patches.

Hiked about a mile or so up the Canyon while driving thru to Yakima.  Trail was fairly muddy in spots but it was possible for most the part to walk a bit to the side to avoid this.   Creek was too high to cross without taking boots off so stayed on the left side and cut over to the base of the boulder field and traversed that before turning around.    It gets cold at night so in parts, the water on the trail was frozen.    Nice views of all the rock outcroppings and canyon walls.

Bring good traction and gaiters if you're planning to do this hike in the snow. Even if you're not expecting snow (like me) you should bring it. The trail was covered in snow the whole way. It was easy to follow due to the existing tracks but was very slippery in steep areas, and even though the snow wasn't deep, I kept kicking it into my boots which made for cold feet.

We started up to the ridge first. It wasn't slippery until after we crossed a small stream and the trail became steeper in some sections. Once you get up past this point, make sure to turn around and look north toward Ellensburg. You can see I-90 and the hills in that direction. Couldn't see the Stuart Range yesterday, but the sun lit up the hills and it was still a beautiful sight to see.

We ended up turning around about a half mile from the top since I wanted to get back to the car before dark. Going down was much quicker than going up (about 1.5 hour up, about 1 hour down) so we had time to check out a little of the Canyon trail before heading back to the car. This trail is flat and would make a nice stroll by the creek.

Overall, a nice hike close to home that I plan to check out in dryer conditions, or at least be more prepared for wet/slippery conditions.