I led my second Winter Walk of the season for the Cascadians today. Six of us hiked up Umatanum Canyon under gray skies. There was maybe an inch of snow at the parking lot by the swinging bridge, but farther up there was 3 or 4 inches. The first crossing of the creek was not difficult. We crossed the creek again about a mile and a half up the canyon (no difficulties) and contiued up the south side of the canyon for perhaps another mile and a half on the trail that I think was built by WTA a number of years ago. We climbed a small buttress to get above the canyon for lunch, but the views up & down the canyon were limited because we were back up a side canyon a little ways. This was farther up the south side of the canyon than I had been before. We only saw one other hiker in the canyon all day. We saw a herd of 4 bighorn rams with impressive curls on the highway as we were driving up the Yakima Canyon, but the only wildlife we saw on our hike were 2 sheep high on the canyon rim.

Great hike, saw two owls in a tree. Lots of wildlife.

I was thinking we'd get a fall color show at Umtanum, but that is still a few weeks away. Instead we got a beautiful end of summer palate with soft yellows, gold and sage, all under a deep cerulean sky and warm sun. Only a few people around on a week day. Went with my friend MT who is recovering from knee replacement and he did great on the mostly level, wide trail. There is one obvious fork in the trail about a mile in, go to the right and cross the creek. The left fork turns into a nasty bushwack after a while. Right after you cross the creek there, if you detour to your right and follow a faint trail along the creek, past a fire pit, you'll come to the foundation of an old house. In that general area there are also a number of old apple trees full of apples right now. This is a great late fall hike, 2.5 hours or so from Seattle, easy for most people, and its often nice over by Yakima even when it's cloudy on the west side.

This was a first time backpacking trip for 3 of group of 6- two of which were 12 year old girls. We wanted to make sure that the trip would be one that would instill a life long desire to continue backpacking and it didn't fail. The weather was perfect- sunny and warm, slight gusty winds just enough to cool you down. Not a bug in sight (in late August even!) and plenty of water to drink. We saw coyotes, bats, snakes- brown ones and a rattler. So little elevation gain that it is hardly worth mentioning. The scenery was spectacular, starting at the suspension bridge over the fast moving river- fun, then crosses the railroad tracks. The train that passed blew its horn way in advance of the crossing. Enter wide open meadow's filled with aspen and sage brush following Umtanum creek. There plenty of camping spots along the trail. Some take a little seeking out and some are right on the trail. The last and best camping spot is right on the trail as it crosses the creek to the right. The trial looks like it goes to the left, but don't be fooled. The trail peters out quickly on this side. There are some rocks piled up to redirect traffic but it didn't work well as it looks like you will walk right into someones camp. Which it actually does, forge ahead because the trail continues along for quite a way on this side of the creek and is well worth the intrusion on the campers (if any). This camp trip was wonderful for both the novice backpacker and the highly experienced.

We went on this hike as part of a church outing. From the information on this site we spent $180.00 on WDFW parking passes. This is BLM land you must pay $5.00 at the parking lot in a collection box. There had also been USFS passes purchased. So we had two parking passes in our window. The citations we all got stated USFS and WDFW pass not valid on BLM land. The hike was a nice easy walk. We went two miles in. No wild life seen (w/exception of one snake). There are still some flowers in bloom.