Frenchman Coulee — Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018

Ethan & I took a hike along the north rim of Frenchman Coulee on this mild, sunny day.  Instead of driving down into the coulee, we followed Silica Rd to the bridge between two cattail-lined ponds that are the source of the waterfall at the end of the coulee and parked beside the road.  We walked out to the end of the coulee and then along the edge until we came to the creek from the ponds.  After a little searching, we found an easy way across at the very brink of the falls.  From here we followed along the north rim to the little side-coulee just west of the power lines and followed this coulee to its mouth.  We appeared to be cliffed-out here, but then Ethan found an easy way down to the next level at the east corner of the coulee.  From here we followed game/boot trails along the broad bench at the top of the north rim for 1/2 mile or so to a nice lunch spot with a good view of one of the big pillars along the north wall of the coulee.  After lunch we retraced our steps to the larger side-coulee just west of the the one we had come down, ascended it to the top, then made our way back to the rim and then to the car.  The only wildlife we saw were rock doves, crows, and a coyote.  There were quite a few cars across the coulee where the climbers park and we saw a number of parties down in the coulee, but we had the rim to ourselves.  It was another beautiful day in coulee country!