[JimK]

I had a great time hiking up Umtanum Ridge on Sunday. Very warm weather and lots of blooming wildflowers. I have posted a report with 20 photos at: Umtanum Ridge

[Slugman]

I just visited your site and read the report and saw the pictures. Great job. It looks like you could just head off anywhere, and go cross-country to the top of any nearby ridge and go walking. Is this correct? Also, can you post the exact driving directions? Lastly, would you say that the area is too tick-y to bring a dog? I have no problem leaving the dog home when that is appropriate. (Overnight trips, crowded trails, National Parks, dangerous areas).

[MtnGoat]

Even more of a concern than ticks are the rattlesnakes, personally I don't take my dog there.

[salish]

Jim, that's a great report on Umtanum! And great pictures, too! I was particularly interested in the photo on page one of your site entitled "sagebrush". In that photo, if you look into the far distance you can see that "crater" on the east side of the Yakima River and canyon. I'm attaching a similar photo taken last December, but from the first ridge above the Yakima River canyon. The photo shows what appears to be a horse shoe shaped "crater" and shows a little more detail than your photo. I was so intrigued with this that I sent this photo to a geologist at the UW, but I have yet to hear from them. In the meantime I've obtained a Terraserver view of this crater and a couple of my geology friends tell me it's an ancient "meander" of the Yakima River. As I understand it, the Yakima River probably had a different course millions of years ago, and this crater is probably where the river ran a million years ago. Darn, I thought I was looking at an ancient meteor impact crater! Good job on finding the lost person. I get up there a lot in the winter and it's easy to get lost when everything is white. Please be forewarned there are rattlers in the L.T. Murray. A buddy of mine had his dog bit there two years ago, The dog lived but suffered great damage to his nose and ability to breathe.

[JimK]

Slugman, Take Exit 109, Canyon Road, off I-90 near Ellensburg. Go left and follow Canyon Road to the trailhead between signposts 16 and 17. It was 130 miles from my house in North Seattle. As to ticks, I went there once with a dog along and it ended up with over 20 ticks. It took a week to find them all. I have yet to see a Rattlesnake after 20 years hiking on ont East side. That having been said, Umtanum Creek is well known to have a healthy snake population. I would leave the dog at home.

[Slugman]

Jim, Thanks for the directions. I don't want any ticks or snakebites on my spoiled pup. I like having a good excuse to leave her home, since total solitude is the most rewarding for me. The dog is just as happy chasing a tennis ball around the backyard anyway. On my trip to the White Chuck yesterday, Daisy's favorite part was playing fetch in the snow on the road portion of the hike.

[JimK]

Cliff, It sure looks like an impact crater from up on the ridge. Either that or one humongous excavation. I guess it could have been a meander but it's hard to envision. Here is a better photo from page 3:

Crater View

[salish]

That's kind of what I think, too. There is no evidence of mining in the past, so that's out. I'm kind of anxious to hear what the UW has to say. It sure is unusual. Nice place, isn't it? I just love the views from up there. I hang out on both sides of the L.T. Murray, and Oak Creek, too. This coming year I hope to spend more time exploring the Mt. Clemons side. Thanks for posting your site. Addendum: Just saw your last post. That's a really good pic of the "crater". I'll save this to the HD and show it to my geology buddies, too. Thanks.

[Alan Bauer]

Umtanum Creek is one of the most likely places to see rattlesnakes in the spring if you are so wishing to find one---many places they exist, almost all will show you a day w/o seeing one. The canyon bottom lands along the creek is one exception to this "in general". My close friend hiked up there the second week of May one year and was obivously in a situation where many were just emerging from their den. He saw 28 snakes in 1/8 mile span! This was repeated by my other friend a couple years ago on May 18th up Robinson Canyon. This is rare to have happen since they are very grumpy critters, don't like being with each other except in winter, and thus a thick consentration like that usually means they are just spreading out from leaving the winter den site. So....While I don't know how much LESS chance you have of encountering snakes up high on the ridge, down low in the canyons they are very healthy.

[Alan Bauer]

Oh, and I forgot to mention...I have no worry other than myself about ticks out there. A monthly routine of using Frontline on the dog means no worries for her---but rather I'm now with a creature covered with them to get on ME afterwards. A strong dose of brushing before getting back in the rig is necessary plus a lot of futher checks...just like checking myself. Rattlesnakes are a much more serious problem and in spring I will not go cross-country in this beautiful land if I have a dog. I will only stick to wide RR grades, jeep tracks where I can see what we are walking into. She isn' trained to know to avoid the snakes...so it isn't worth it! Ranchers who have dogs in snake areas often will train them to learn to avoid them by a means of handlers of snakes that have been de-venomized...dog snoops at them, gets bit, learns that they mean STAY AWAY.

[salish]

Thanks Alan. Great photo, by the way. I know you're a serious desert rat (like me) so I was hoping you would chime in. I mentioned earlier that a good friend of mine had his dog bitten up there, and your post nails it - the dog was bitten in Robinson Canyon, two Octobers ago. Right on the snout, too. I don't doubt there are some dens in the Umtanum Creek area. About five years ago I was fishing on the west side of the Yakima, about a half mile downstream from the Umtanum footbridge, and in the early evening I encountered three rather healthy diamondbacks along the dense brush along the river and edge of the RR tracks. These rattlers were separated by fifty yards or so. Last October 15th this same guy who had his dog bitten the previous year in Robinson Canyon, almost stepped on a rattler on the ridge above Umtanum Canyon. This was in a clump of sagebrush at the edge of a ridge (downslope). This same guy was over in the Quilomene a week later (Oct. 25th) and he was bitten on the thigh by a rattler, but luckily he had his Filson tin cloth chaps on and the bite didn't penetrate. About the same time I almost sat down on a fair sized rattler in some rocks on Thompson Ridge, while deer hunting up near Twisp. The snake and I sat next to each other for a good 20 minutes and I didn't even see it until I got up to move. It was really lethargic. Lucky me. On Nov. 1st spent a week or so upland hunting around Quincy and Ephrata and two of the local veterinarians told me it had been a bad snake year. That was an understatement. I never let these wonderful creatures scare me away, though. They are actually very exciting to see.

[MCaver]

Eeks! *marks Umtanum Canyon off his list*

[Alan Bauer]

Now now now....these critters are the exception, not the rule. For each person who I have heard that has seen them up the Umtanum, I've heard of 10 who have gone in May, June and never seen one either! But for the non-snake fan (I myself do not like them, but have grown used to hiking in snake country and it just gets engrained on motions to do while moving through areas--hiking staff is a huge benefit here) don't rule out these canyons! Personally, while I love the spring flowers, I find a winter hike up Umtanum Creek even more thrilling than spring. Elk, deer, beavers, and the herd of big-horn sheep that comes down that time of the year! Mark your calendar, MCaver...next December I'm taking up in there. You find me a rare snow rattler and I'll buy you dinner!

[Karen]

This was taken last year -- probably in late April. Can't wait to get back there. Karen

Umtanum Ridge 2002

[JimK]

Karen, Your photo was taken from nearly the same place as the one I posted earlier in this thread. After going up to the top of Umtanum Ridge we detoured to this spot above the river. We had about 45 minutes to sit in the sun before heading on back.