When the rain falls you can stay home or you can go out and get wet. Or you can (sort of) follow Willie Keeler's advice and go where the rain ain't. That's what we did. In the Northwest you can often rely on the miracle of the rain shadow to find better weather.
You know, the rain shadow that is formed by the mountains. When the rain comes in from the west it has to go up and over the mountains. That means it rains a lot on the west side, but on the east side it's dry. A quick drive over the mountains and the sun comes out.
Even though we were fleeing the rain we're still westsiders so we opted for an adventure that wouldn't be too hot. In the mountains south of Ellensburg is a creek that turns the arid landscape into a lush valley. The drive there was a little confusing, but the trail is straightforward. It follows the creek downstream in the shade until the creek drops 40 feet into a pool at the base of Umtanum Falls.
To get down to the falls there are a couple of sketchy spots. The first is to the south of the punchbowl where the trail crosses a narrow gully. It's not a difficult crossing, but a fall would be bad. There's an old, fraying rope across the gully, but we relied on caution rather than the rope. (There's also a very steep trail that climbs over the top of the gully.)
The second spot is descending the craggy basalt that overlooks the bowl. When it's wet it would be slick, but on a dry day like we had it was easy to scramble down.
The pool is glorious and would be even better if it were warmer. There's enough space to hang out and eat lunch and deep enough for the dog to get a swim. (Of course, Treen would "swim" in a mud hole, but this was legit swimming.)
Before we descended to the pool I saw we could climb to the rocks above the creek on the north side. When we were done playing at the pool we found a trail that looked like it winds through some rocks and up the steep hill. However, even though we would have to go back through the two sketchy spots mentioned earlier, that was a better way to above the falls.
And what cool rocks! Standing alone were a set of basalt columns. We talked about how they formed and what that meant to the rest of the area. It was a great spot to eat the rest of our lunch.
We continued up the side of the valley on what looked all the world like a trail, but it pretty quickly faded into a game trail before disappearing completely. Going off trail on the west side of the mountains or down on the valley floor isn't feasible, but on the barren ridge it was easy to move among the sage brush and occasional rocks. Getting back to the trail was a little challenging, though. As we descended, the brush got thicker resulting in a short bushwhack at the end.
In other words: Climb up to the columns for lunch, but then return to the trailhead on the main trail.
Without a doubt, this is a great, easy hike when the weather is lousy on the west side. If you're used to cooler, wetter hikes go in the Spring before it gets too hot and the flowers are blooming. If you're used to the heat, go any time and bring your swimsuit.
