I'd forgotten how amazing this little desert canyon can be. Driving back from Utah to Seattle we frequently spend a night in the Yakima Canyon. The BLM has done a decent job over the past two decades cleaning up the canyon's camping and providing a clean and safe atmosphere (it wasn't always this way). We camped in one of the 5 reservable spots alongside the Yakima River and were awoken by a cacophony of birds. If you don't know the hike it begins by crossing the Yakima on a cable suspension bridge. Cliff swallows have taken up residence underneath it. Dozens of swallows darted back and forth to muddy spots along the river building their nests under the bridge. By leaning over the edge of the bridge you can easily get a firsthand lesson in mud-nest building. Very cool. Once crossing the bridge the not-quite-formal trail goes under the railroad tracks (which are quite active). Although there are plenty of quite worn and easy to follow trails there really isn't a consistent trail as it is broken up periodically by the whims of the river. A BLM sign states that the "trail" is closed at 3.25 miles from February through July. I suspect this is for Big Horn calving. We walked primarily on the south side of the creek although there are segments on both sides. Being early morning the foliage was very wet and dewy. Numerous birds called out to us and the air was refreshingly crisp. We identified several flowers, grasses, and trees; passed by an old homestead where all that remains are overgrown fruit trees and some fence posts, and scanned the northern ridge line for big horn sheep. Alas no big horn were spotted by us today but from my experience this is unusual. My favorite attraction for the day was a series of beaver dams. No more than a mile or so up the canyon we marveled at their knowledge of the topography and engineering to get what they need out of the landscape. When all was said and done we'd spent two glorious hours wandering through dewy grasses looking, listening, and wishing we were kids again...

This was a glorious hike through a lovely desert riparian area thick with wildlife. The trees were teaming with birdsong; I must have heard 20 different calls. Every time I stopped, I could hear something scurrying in the underbrush. One time I saw the back end of what I think was a marmot, but I did not see or hear any rattlesnakes. I saw a lovely pair of kingfishers, a regal pair of turkey vultures, and grazing pair of big horn sheep high on the hillside. And I saw one MEAN osprey. When I first saw it gliding above me, I was caught up in the wonder of the moment. And then I realized that its squawks were directed at me! So I quickly moved on. About a half mile later, right after crossing the creek for the second time, I encountered it again. This time it was distinctly more upset -- and aggressive. I tried unsuccessfully several times to proceed on the trail, but it was having none of it. When it shot up straight in the air like a Blue Angel airplane, then did a 180 to dive bomb my head, I turned on my heels and ran into the trees. And it still wasn't done with me. When I emerged out into the open, it literally chased me down the trail. It must have been guarding a nest, but the behavior took me by surprise. As I was returning to my car, I happened upon four Audubon Society birders. They were absolutely giddy with the possibility of encountering my nemesis. They invited me to return with them (safety in numbers?), but I politely declined. I wonder what kind of encounter they had? Despite my run-in with the bird, I highly recommend this hike! And sorry, no good photo of the osprey -- the few I dared to take came out blurry.

We arrived at the trailhead around 10:00 am, a parking lot was third-full, however most of the people were there for fishing, not hiking. Hike is decent, however trail is poor-marked, has many branches (that usually merges together), and you need to cross the stream multiple times. There are already snakes - we saw 4 of them (I almost stepped on at one!), and heard another two.

First time up the Umtanum canyon, but I've hiked the falls section many times. Be very mindful of rattle snakes. We saw 7 rattle snakes on our trek, all of which where on the trail. 2 other snakes, 3 lizards and 3 other unidentified reptilian creatures along the way. Other than way too many rattle snakes it was a great hike.

The wildflowers appear to be a little past their peak, but there are still a lot of them both in the canyon and on the ridge. Both trails start from the same trailhead - go right for the canyon trail and left for the ridge. Whenever I got to a fork on the canyon trail, I kept right, and that seemed to keep me on the path described in the WTA trail description. The ridge trail is STEEP near the top. Wish I would have done that trail first and then done the flat canyon trail, but live and learn. I was really glad I had my both my hiking poles to help on the way down. There were definitely more birds and butterflies than people on the trail today.