Umtanum Creek Canyon — Saturday, Sep. 17, 2016

Central Washington > Yakima

As others mentioned, there is a fork after going under the railroad and the left fork goes up the canyon wall. Go right for the canyon trail, which follows the creek. There are a couple creek crossings which were easy since the creek is so low, but we did lose the trail a couple times and had to backtrack. The trail is overgrown in several areas so you have to push grasses and branches aside. On the way we didn't encounter any snakes, but on the way back, we came across 7 snakes; we think most were rattlesnakes, including an especially long one. The snakes were in the middle of the trail making us nervous to pass, especially when one coiled up watching us right next to the trail. After nudging it with a long stick at a distance it slithered away but after encountering two more and almost stepping on one right on the trail, we decided to follow the creek bed instead of the trail for a while. After a while we met up with the tail again but were nervous and cautious the rest of the way. Without boots or heavy pants, I wouldn't do this trail again. Too close for comfort for me. Glad we had trekking poles to tap the ground in front of us especially when the trail was narrow and overgrown.