Nice hike, naughty children

[nwhiker]

OK. Not naughty. Just a bit more whiny than we like.

So we headed over the Cascades to a place called Umtanum Creek Recreation Area, the goal being to hike this trail.

We did.

First a 'huh?'. All the websites about the hike identified the area as being under the control of WA State Fish and Wildlife. Since we don't have a permit from them, we purchased one, $14 over the internet. When we got there, we found out it's BLM land, and damn it, we do have a permit for them. Not a devastating financial blow, but a 'huh?' one.

Anyhow. The hike starts on a suspension bridge over the Yakima River.

Now, the kids and even dh think I am scared of bridges like that. I'm not scared in the slightest. What I am is without a good sense of... the horizon, I guess. As I was talking, I was staring down at the water, as it was flowing, and suddenly, the water seemed to incline to 30deg clockwise, my new horizon, and I started leaning counter-clockwise. I quickly corrected, and stared straight ahead and not at the water. Again, it isn't fear, it's just that my ears/eyes/brain connection goes easily haywire under bridge and boat and amusement park ride conditions.

Here's the kids and dh on the bridge.


The hike is up a canyon carved by this little tributary to the Yakima River. We wanted to follow the creek trail, but got side-tracked and headed up the ridge. And up. And... straight up. The trail was fine, but with lots of loose (basalt!) rock, and about 2/3 of the way up, we decided we really wanted to do the creek trail, so we headed down.

Then the whining started. Because Linnea? Was done. She wanted to go back to the car. Umm... No. We head out, with Linnea trailing behind the other two in a foul mood.


But oh, how pretty everything was! Lupine was in bloom, as were other wildflowers. The day was warm, but there was a nice breeze. Sagebrush smelled delicious, the rugosa was pink, and birds were singing, many that I could not ID. Aspens shimmery in the wind. So very green, but such a different green from the wet, mossy greens of my side of the Cascades!


Perry and AC snipped at each other, Linnea whined, and it was one of the more miserable hikes I've ever done in that regard. Usually, after a while, the kids all get into the... I suppose I'll call it the zen of the outdoors, the movement, but not this time. They whined, squabbled, complained, and were in general disagreeable little brats. I was not too happy. Of course, we'll just make them hike more because I'm not going to let them dictate our family activities because they want to be a texting lump on the couch, gaming or reading, or "playing with my friends!" respectively. Bah.

We hiked a little over 2 miles up the canyon, fording the creek once and back, and Perry and I soaked ourselves to keep cool. Linnea said she wanted to, but ran away when she got wet, then complained that her hair was dry. We ended up calling the hike when we did because the trail got smaller and smaller and there was lots of poison oak. AC appears to have what might be a patch on her leg, she was the only one wearing shorts.

So back we went, with our delightful children in a cheerful and sunny mood (NOT!), across the bridge and back to the car, where they all cheered up considerably.

Photo set on flickr.