[Dslayer]

This is pretty obviously becoming my favorite springtime place since I've been there 3 of the last four weekends. With the snow rapidly melting though, it's taking on a different look every time. The 'trail' is almost snow free all the way up the North Ridge-frequently crosses the stream which is running about as high as ever does. Accompanied by my daughter, who uncomplainingly kept up every step of the way which made me very proud of her we had a mid morning brunch at the spring-about 2/3 the way up the canyon. We had seen 13 deer before entering the canyon, but once in the canyon we saw only smaller critters, chukars, quail, chipmunks, voles, and our one prize find-a blue tailed skink, indicating how warm its been over here. Near the top of the ridge, there's a couple of options for going to the top-two different old roads, the first heading off to the NW towards the junction of the Ridge Road and the Kelly Hollow Road that comes out of the Wenas Valley. The other exit occurs after the Canyon makes a turn back to the NE and is another old road that joins the Ridge Road. Once on top of the ridge, we cut over to the Kelly Hollow road. Herds of deer and elk went scattering as my daughter, in full voice, described all the boys she liked at school, not a short list, her obsession with every Johnny Depp movie, and her theory about God and the creation of the universe-not uninteresting or unthoughtful for a 12 year old. We saw 6 different groups of elk ranging from groups of 3 to 20, and numerous deer. We worked our way off the top of ridge and into another canyon where we found the aforementioned skink and came out at the junction of the Hassler Flat/Kelly Hollow road which we followed back to the pickup about 1 and 1/2 miles or a little more. Across the way on the North facing side of Clemans Mtn. the snow is receding, though the closure is still on for wintering elk. I'm heading back up again to same spot next Sunday to scout a different loop for the Zillah kids for our first prehike for our Yellowstone adventure. I'm hoping to go up Pine Canyon and see if we can't get back down into Lady Bug Canyon to the west of Pine. If anyone is in the neighborhood and would like to join me, I'd enjoy your company. I am an early bird guy, though, I like to beat the heat-it was in the 70's yesterday as well as get going early to see animals.

[Dslayer]

Thought I'd bump this up and quickly, for once, reprise last weekend's adventure. I followed Pine Canyon up to Umptanum Ridge, numerous elk and deer appeared on the eastern ridge and I came up on group of six bulls, four branched, 2 spikes that I observed from 30-50 yards for quite a while-I crawled up behind a sage brush and lay down under it for awhile. Saw the usual compliment of quail and chukars plus a grouse and lots of chipmunks, mice and voles. Flowers are coming out on the ridges now. I came up with an easier route down by swinging west on the Ridge Road and coming down Lady Bug Canyon which was pretty easy to get down into and easily followed big game trail down the canyon. About a third of the way down, there's a cottonwood grove and a spring with a water tank. The canyon empties onto the flat and a very obvious elk trail takes you over a little rise and down to where I park to walk up into Pine. It's about an 8 mile walk with a little under 2,000 foot elevation gain.

[Dslayer]

...and finally and perhaps for the final time...My 2 colleagues and myself, one parent, my daughter and 11 Zillah kids made the Pine Canyon, N. Umptanum Ridge, Lady Bug Canyon loop, about 8 miles on Monday. We saw 4 herds of 25 elk once on top and around 25-30 deer, flowers were out all over the place, lots of pics taken of those, some chukar and quail flying right out from under our feet, and magnificient views from the top of the ridge, and a lot of laughs when one of the instructors fell in a mud puddle while goofing off. (we won't name that idiot ) At any rate, a good time was had by all and our first Yellowstone-Beartooth pre-hike came off without a hitch. I was exceptionally proud of my daughter, she kept up with me all the way and I set a decent pace, (but one of my colleagues is a marathoner and if that guy ever gets going the rest of us are in trouble) never complained and joined right in with the other kids-I really like for her to be around older 'good' kids and she does, too. I practically had to carry two girls around one of the rougher spots-just steep, loose and rocky-and I never even think twice about my daughter in those spots-I probably should, but I just don't and she gets about half pissed when I ask her how she's doing in earshot of the other kids. Hey, also TICKS are out in this area, just about all of us had one and we knocked about 4 off my kid.

[salish]

Wow, great reports, DSlayer. I missed seeing the first two, so I'm glad you posted the last followup. I fished out my Gazateer while reading your reports and was able to keep up with you and your daughter for most of the trip, but me thinks a real topo would be a lot better, since I was unable to spot a couple of "intersections" you mentioned. What an interesting place to hike, and your wildlife encounters were spectacular. I am familar with the general area, but I hardly ever penetrate that far into the canyons. My explorations during chukar season generally keep me along the periphery, such as along the Yakima River and over on Oak Creek - across the hwy. I've gone quite far into Umtanum Canyon in the winter, but never up in any of the canyons you've mentioned. I have made it into Roza Creek, Willow Springs, The Cottonwoods, and east of that locale. I love the Cottonwoods. Tell me, do the springs up on Umtanum Ridge (Oasis Springs?) actually contain water? You also mention a spring about a third that down Lady Bug Canyon - did it contain water and was there lot's of wildlife hanging around? Depending on how early (and how hard) the snow hits this coming fall/winter, I'd like to go to these canyons. On a related note, there were several threads last year about rattlers, and anyone who has hiked in these areas is aware of them. As you know I hunt these areas with a setter and I've always been worried about my dog (or me) getting bit by a rattler. One of my hunting partners had his setter bitten on the nose by a rattler in Robinson Canyon, in the L.T., a couple of years ago. And then last year this same guy was struck himself, in a dry creek bed at fairly high elevation in Oak Creek. His chaps took the bite. Well, because of that I've been researching rattlers big time and the more I learn the more confused I get. There are something like 16 different species of rattlesnakes in the US. One thing I learned is that while the eastern diamondback is the largest and carries the most venom, it is not the most dangerous. That distinction belongs to the Mojave Rattler, which is a small snake. The Southern Pacific Rattlesnake apparently has a nasty rep, too. I also learned that newborn rattlers often times have a stronger venom than adults, and rattlers fresh out of hibernation (they actually do not hibernate) usually have more juice. To makes things even more confusing, rattler from the same species/area and even the same litter can have different levels of toxicity. Anyway, I grew so confused I called the Ephrata WDFW today and had a long talk with one of their wildlife biologists and learned a few things about our rattlers. I was told we have only one species of rattler in Washington - the Northern Pacific Rattlesnake. I had thought we also had western diamondbacks. I was told these rattlers could be considered a bit "wimpy" compared to most of the other rattlers, and because of their (generally) smaller size and species characteristics, they don't pack the punch that some of their cousins do. This bio told me he had three dogs that had been bitten by rattlers and all survived with no problems. He also knew of a few humans in his career in the outdoors who were bitten and the ordeals ended up being similar to a bad bee sting. Of course, it goes without saying that if you're subject to anaphylactic shock, or have serious heart problems, any rattler bite could cause some problems. Not all bad news for those us us who are goofy enough to play in rattlesnake country...... Cliff

[MooseAndSquirrel]

Cable TV's Animal Planet has a new show called Venom ER that's pretty interesting and the episodes I've seen were based at Loma Linda U. Hospital in San Bernardino County east of LA, which has lots of rattlesnakes. Mojave and Southern Pacific Rattlesnake victims were featured. The Mojave is indeed a nasty snake with a neurotoxin venom. It was pointed out on the show that a young snake delivers much less venom than an adult- that it's a fallacy about a young snake being more dangerous because it apparently hasn't "learned" to conserve its venom and instead delivers a good proportion of it during a strike. Urban legend. Nothing was mentioned about a young snake's venom being more powerful ounce for ounce than an adult's either.

[Alan Bauer]

Great return trip again Dslayer! I keep meaning to post a note to you on one other area near there but forget! Ticks--thanks for bringing it up as I failed to mention that 2 weeks ago already I had to evict two residents from my dog up on Shell Rock. She won't be bit...but she sure as heck isn't allowed to haul them piggy back into my car to then jump me when I'm driving home! A good early start for them. I've not gotten ticks up on Shell Rock before April 22nd before. Salish--great research on your part on the snakes. You done good I for one have long been happy that we don't have some of the southern species of rattlesnakes. And it is time to start watching for them even if it seems they won't be out until May. THere have been many warm days already over in many areas. I remember how last April 19th in a side canyon off of Douglas Creek Canyon we were busy hiking and the very cool day had a comment of "must still be too early". Not 10 minutes later Big Billy mozied across the jeep track ahead of us. Then another one 5 minutes further on. So they indeed are just sly and waiting to jump you and haul you back to their den...so be very very careful.

[salish]

[Karen]

A few days ago I was heading up to Manastash Ridge and ran across the first grass widows of the season (at least for me) and I squealed aloud with delight. A young woman hiking behind me jumped, startled and asked, "What is it? Did you see a snake?" I laughed and said, "No, it's just a flower". Gotta tone down the enthusiasm, I guess. Karen

[MooseAndSquirrel]

Salish, I'm not a snake expert, I don't even play one on TV. I was just relaying what I had just seen and heard on that show. I imagine a good venom-filled bite from young junior beats a dry bite from Momma or Poppa any day- that's a given. I really don't want to put all the theories and conjecture into practice by picking up a snake like that one dumb kid did! Or put a rattler into my fanny pack like that one expert did. Ok, I forgot- he put it into a sack first. A thin cotton sack it looked like- one he said the snake could penetrate with its fangs. These people are operating on a different plane than I.

[salish]

[Malachai Constant]

The Mojave is not necessarily small. We had a lot of them near China Lake (the species was first found there). They were often 5-6 feet long and looked a lot like a Western Diamondback. Sidewinders are small (cept for the ones on F-14's) and we had a lot of them too.

[MooseAndSquirrel]

The Southern Pacific rattlesnake I saw on that show, if I have the snake right, was kinda black or dark and looked especially sinister. Not the sandy color probably most people have in mind with rattlesnakes. I love your stories, Salish, I hope that was a LONG stick. I guess ya gotta do what ya gotta do, as far as moving that snake, but man, I'd be very nervous myself! That black widow coming out of the skull's eye socket paints a pretty picture too.

[salish]

Mal, thanks for chiming in here. This is something else I didn't know. They are amazing animals. I rode my motorcycle up through Mojave and around Ridgecrest a couple of times. I loved that country. It was such a respite from the bedroom communites I lived in in Orange County. Thanks. Cliff ps - Dslayer, sorry for digressing so far from your original post.

[Dslayer]

No problem-snake talk in this part of the country is good talk. I was always under the impression we had 'timber rattlers,' too-but that could be a local euphemism for the same snake-although the ones that I think are timber rattlers seem to be greener rather than the typical brown of ones around here. I don't know how wimpy they are, I care not to be bitten by one though I've heard the symptoms are akin to a bee stings except for those who are predisposed to allergies, etc. I killed one with 13 buttons three years ago-he looked big to me. I was a little nervous with these warmer days we might run into some with the kids and was glad we didn't. The place that we always referred to as The Oasis, a stand of timber to the west of the first curve once you get over N. Umptanum-heading towards Ellensburg-has water in all year-but what I see being named Oasis Spring on the map doesn't look like the same thing to me-I'll look at it again. The spring in Lady Bug and the one in Pine Canyon look to be year rounders but the one on the map in upper Pine Canyon doesn't have water now-so go figure. Just about all the canyons, north facing obviously, but even south facing, from Kelly Hollow to the west have some water all year. The ones in Lady Bug and Pine Canyon-like Willow Spring in the Roza are particularly nice because they have cold fresh water running out of pipes-left over from cattle and sheep days. I guess around March 19th, some a-hole shot a full curl big horn in Kelly Hollow and left it to die-probably didn't drop right away so the poacher didn't go collect the horns. Unfortunately, it's unlikey that this jackass would be caught-it just sickens me that anyone would do that. I am going this weekend to bring in the rest of the head of the dead sheep I found during deer season-assuming it's still there-only about a 3/4 curl or a little less. I couldn't tell from what was left of the carcass if it had been shot, and if it had and then legal hunters hadn't found it (it could have been shot during bighorn season) though that's my immediate suspicion.

[salish]

Dslayer, thanks for the detailed report on springs in these canyons. You know that is very helpful info. I'll probably hit these places next winter. A darned shame about the ram. I would love to see WDFW enforcement find these people. Those poor guys are so stretched the the limit, budget wise as well as with manpower, they just can't do much. In the fisheries arena, I think there are only two bonafide WDFW fisheries enforcement guys who work the entire north Puget Sound. I've often wondered what I would do if I ever encountered poachers like this. I now carry a digital camera so perhaps I'd snap photos, and more photos of their vehicles and plates. Ditto on the timber rattlers. I've heard the same thing, especially up in the Okanagon, so I was surprised to find we have only one snake. Thanks, Cliff