Now that it's a bit chilly and the ticks and snakes should all be underground, we decided to get out for an east of the Cascades hike. We started out by going the wrong way after crossing the suspension bridge…. we crossed the creek instead of looping up around after going under the railroad tracks, but there's about a million game trails, so we followed what were probably elk trails. They were still well boot marked, so I guess that plenty of other people do it too. Eventually the official trail crosses the creek and hooks back up and it's pretty hard to get lost in a narrow canyon, so no problems. The only minus to missing the official trail head was the more descriptive sign for the closure areas. At about 3.8 miles up the canyon there was a sign on the trail indicating that the area was "Closed until July 15"… but from when to July 15? Did that mean it was open now, as it is certainly after July 15.. or had it already closed for the season and would reopen July 15… that sign could use a little work on it's clarity. Had we been to the trailhead we would have seen the other sign indicating that the closure was from Feb 1 to July 15.. and we could have gone on, but it's OK - we had plans to hike up the Ridge Trail too anyway. We saw lots of places where there were clear indications that large animals had slept, but we didn't see any elk, deer or sheep all day - not too much of a wonder as we could hear occasional gunshots up in the hills. We did see one hunter heading out up the Ridge Trail late in the day, but I doubt he was going to find much. As well as other hunters there were enough hikers and people with dogs to scare away all the game. There were still fall colors aplenty wherever there was water. The Aspens were particularly bright and colorful. The Umtanum creek trail was a bit brushy in places and it was easy to start following game trails where it was grassy, but the valley is narrow, so you always get back to the more beaten path. We didn't have to cross any beaver dams. We saw a few lower down, near the old farmstead, but by the next creek crossing it was an easy rock hop. There were ripe apples on a lot of the trees. Most were pretty wormy, but we found one particular tree with rather beautiful, crisp, tart-sweet and worm free apples. Very tasty :). We went beyond the 3 miles recommended, but didn't find it to be that bad. We did cross the creek several times, but none of the crossings were difficult and the creek is quite low right now. The walk is pretty flat, so we covered the out and back pretty quickly. No sign of any snakes :). Only birds. We could catch glimpses of kinglets in the brush. There were pine siskins and varied thrushes too. We headed up the Ridge Trail to get in a bit more hike, get some elevation and see if we could get some views and/or spy some wildlife. We didn't find too much of either of those, but we did come across an incredible stand of trees that looked like someone had buried a clown and just let his wig stick out. It was around a watering trough (for the wildlife I'm guessing?), so it was an crazy bright patch in the middle of the dry grey/brown of the sage brush. We saw a few hoof prints that were probably a deer - they were quite small and delicate - and a few paw prints (probably someone's dog, but could have been coyote) but that was the only sign there'd been any wildlife around recently. On the way down the sun finally made a decent appearance after a mostly hazy day.

A great way to spend my birthday enjoying good company and the fall colors and geology of Umtanum Creek. Not many animals to speak of and the shots of various firearms clear audible but overall a nice hike. Didn't see any hunters in the canyon and saw only one heading towards the ridge. The reports all seem to come from the west. Lots of tasty apples remain on the trees that remain from the 1933 homestead. Nice fall color on the cottonwoods and aspen. Even saw a large herd of Bighorn sheep in the hills along Canyon Road not far from the parking lot as you head back to I-90.

It was a great hike. The weather was a little warm, and there's not a lot of shade in a lot places, but we managed. We did encounter one, maybe two rattlesnakes just of the trail near the trailhead. They alerted us to their presence but weren't visible. The creek crossings were pretty simple, but I'd recommend using a hiking pole for balance. We only came across one other camping party, about two miles in, but they had an ideal location. Ours was about another quarter mile in, was quiet and peaceful, but lacking shade. There were a few bugs, but nothing that bothered us. We didn't follow the trail to the end, but enjoyed the simple hike.

This is a favorite bird 'n butterfly walk of ours, and today did not disappoint. We saw the usual swallows, goldfinches, flycatchers and turkey vultures as well as an osprey, magpie, flicker, grosbeak and a Lazuli bunting. We never saw the drumming woodpecker, nor the chat reported by others. On the butterfly list were: Milbert's tortoiseshell, Mourning Cloak, Pale and Two-tailed swallowtails, Boisduval's and Acmon blues (I believe)as well as Ringlets, Sootywings, Juba skippers, checkerspots and some whites, plus one Anise swallowtail larva and the two included in photos. There was a lot of fresh beaver activity and we saw 7 garter snakes, two of which were actively fishing.

A gentle walk in the company of sage brush. Remnants of the old homestead linger, in the scent of apple blossums, and lilacs along the valley. Big horn sheep wander the ridge far above. Cactus are hidden among the grasses and rocks.