[silly_traveler]

CJ and I went to check this place out today and walked the Cowiche Mountain Loop Trail somewhat clockwise with a few side trips This is a neat alternative to Umtanum Canyon, with similar distance and elevation gain. If you're looking something with less crowds, this is a great place to go Snow Mountain Ranch is part of the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy and it's just up the road from Cowiche Canyon Trail. See directions and trail information at http://www.cowichecanyon.org/trails/snowmountain Flowers are starting to pop and stupid bugs are flying around all over the place but not biting, yet

new kiosk

sagebrush violet

burgers?

CJ - hiking

[TrailPair]

What a nice change from the ice! How long is the loop?

[silly_traveler]

Oops, not really the elevation gain of Umtanum, but the distance is similar The loop is 6 miles and there are a few side trails you can take, probably 7-8 miles total if you do some of the side trails too

[captain jack]

Silly and I intended to do this hike last spring, but due to the extended low snow, we chose to just visit the canyon instead. This year, practicly no snow, so we thought we would try to explore it. The main trail is a 6 mile loop up to the tower at the top of the mountain. It gains about a 1000'. The west half of the loop is mostly up the old road on the ranch, now long abandoned, to pastures near the ridgetop. A system of hoses and bathtubs, which still remains, was set up to water the livestock, and ends at a small wash about 2/3rds the way up. The east side of the loop is brand spanking new. The tread is easy to loose in the grass and rocks, but well constructed rock cairns will guide you safely up or down, depending on which way you do the loop. The west side loop has many side trail options, and there is a shorter loop, at around 3 miles, which ascends halfway up the slope. There is also trails along the Cowiche river, with many good spots to stop and have lunch. Take the short trail down to the river, on the right just after leaving the parking area, which leads to an area now experiencing mild flooding due to some very enterprising beavers, who seem hell bent to make a lake out of this section of the Cowiche River. Large trees have been freshly knawed, some others now have a wire wrap to prevent total deforestation, but the dam is taking shape nicely. This first picture is from across the road from the nice new parking area, looking up at the mountain. The trail ends at the top of what you see in the distance.

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This is another one of those hikes, like Dungeoness Spit, where you can see your objective the whole time you hike, some like that, some dont. All the trails are well graded and easy going, kid friendly if you have the DVD's to entertain them on the 2.5 hour road trip over here. Flowers were pretty good, for March ! Rains this week , along with some sun, will make this a multicolred carpet of wildflowers in a week or two. The newly constructed kiosk identified a couple of the flowers we saw, including buttercups, which are coming in nicely.

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A silly hiker strolling through the buttercups.

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and this one, which I forgot the name of,

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The desert violets are pretty much in full flower now, interesting with thier one lone dark colored petal at the top.

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The sagebrush has an interesting fungus on it, thats bright orange, which makes it look like its on fire.

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One side trail leads to an eroded rock formation high on the cliff above the river, which they call the " Balanced Rock "

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This was an enjoyable few hours of trails , with decent views, which is not real common for the east side, its always nice to have more spring options over here. We took the short drive up to the Wilridge winery Yakima vineyards , to sample this years offerings. The women behind the counter immediately recognized us from our first visit last year. We sampled a few different wines, me, a big red, a forgettable white, and a couple of interesting wines in between. Thier selection this year has grown, and now includes some dry, saprkling wines, one of which Silly really liked. We both ended up with a glass of Reisling, same as we did last year, which we enjoyed in the sun on the back lawn. I really find it hard to complain about this kind of hiking day, it has views, fresh air and flowers, and is QUIET ! Both Silly and I remarked about how peaceful it was out there, no airplanes, no highway noise, just birds, which there is alot of. I would not hesitate to do this hike again in the future. Oh, one thing, no potty, so take your business elsewhere, before you get here. This is conservancy land, so no pass or permit is required.