ONE DAY ROAD CLOSURE: The Canyon River Road to Umtanum Canyon trail will be closed Saturday, April 6, for a marathon race. http://www.ontherunevents.com/yrcm/

Started out about 9:30AM on a beautiful, clear, and eventually warm Spring day. Hiked in about 3.25 miles and had lunch. I was here in late summer a couple of years ago and was able to go much farther into the canyon this time because the late-season underbrush was absent. In late summer the trail seems to disappear. In fact, I was surprised that very little was blooming as yet.Most of the grasses seemed pretty brown and dormant. But it's plainly Spring, and the birds were putting on a great show, courting and swooping along the canyon walls. We climbed to the top of of one of the ridges- about 600 feet- and had a spectacular view up and down the canyon and to the high desert beyond. As we hiked out we encountered lots of day hikers coming in. A rather disturbing moment as we passed a young man carrying an assault rifle. He was polite and greeted us as we passed but .... really? An assault rifle in a wildlife sanctuary where plenty of parents are hiking with their young kids? It was bizarre and disturbing. And by the way, the signage at the trailhead states that firearms are not allowed on BLM land.

We worked in a quick hike here on the way home from a weekend of camping and hiking in the Yakima River Canyon. On a Sunday morning, there were quite a few cars parked at the trailhead parking lot/campground. It looked like some folks were fly fishing and others were just enjoying a sunny day playing in the creek. Since we only had an hour, we opted to head up the trail that branches off of the main trail just after you cross the river and come up from under the train tracks. We followed the trail on the eastern wall of the smaller canyon south of the main Yakima River Canyon and got some lovely views back down onto the canyon before it disappeared from view. The trail was in pretty good shape, with only a few spots where it had eroded down the hill. The tread was pretty soft for dog paws and muddy in a few spots where the trail neared the drainage creek. We ran across a few other hikers, but not as many as on the main Untanum Creek Canyon. We were hoping to climb up to more views, but had to turn around before we topped out on the ridge. If you lived in Ellensburg, this would make a great little early morning training hike. Nights sleeping outside: 2 Total nights outside this year: 2

Hiked the canyon with 8 Boy Scouts. The weather was beautiful and sunny. There was mud on the trail but it was easily avoidable. There were some frozen creek crossings that were a challenge but overall I will definitely rerun. There was adequate areas for all of the tents at the end of the trail and plenty of water from the creek. Make sure to bring water treatment as there are beaver dams present. Overnight temperatures were in the low 20s

It was a beautiful day for a hike, balmy and clear. We did have difficulty finding a place to cross the creek (perhaps swollen from snow melt), but finally were able to cross. Some of the trails were overgrown, but not unpassable. Lots of signs of spring. We saw a few groups of deer and a few bighorn sheep. Lots of butterflies and small birds and a few pheasant. About three miles in, there were large cat tracks by the creek. The creek at that point would have been difficult to cross and the trail overlooking the creek was partially crumbled down toward the creek below. We opted to start back at that point.