Ethan, Karen, & I took a hike at the Frenchman Coulee area on this sunny, mild day.  We parked at the trailhead at the bottom of the hill and followed the 2-track south across the mouth of Echo Basin to the first sand dunes.  From here we climbed the slope to the right of the sand up to a small basin and then climbed (6' of class 3 - the minor obstacle) over a saddle and dropped down onto the big flat above the mouth of Echo Basin.  We walked around the perimeter of the flat until we found a good lunch spot overlooking the basin.  After an hour or so we walked over to the draw at the east end of the flat and climbed up to the benchlands above.  From here we walked SE over to the old diatomite mine.  This area was very interesting with a layer of striated rock and lots of opalized chert laying around.  When we were done poking around this area we followed the coulee west to the little basin above the sand and then retraced our steps back to the cars.  There were lots of other cars parked here & up the road in the middle alcove from all the climbers on Sunshine Wall.  We met 2 other hikes on the flat above Echo Basin and saw a few others from a distance, but largely had the place to ourselves.  We didn't see any wildlife except for a brief glimpse of a herd of deer running through the sagebrush.

First hike of 2021 took us to Frenchman Coulee, the hike along the old highway that runs parallel to the river. We love this hike for many reasons - it has long views down the river and we hardly ever see anyone else.

There was only one other vehicle in the boat launch parking lot when we arrived at 12:30. We started out along the main path then veered off onto the narrow paths closer to the water's edge that wend through the sage brush. We saw several hanging grass bird's nests attached to the trees along the water's edge. Perhaps oriole nests? 

After about half a mile we veered off to the left, past the private lot, and past a massive buttress and worked our way up a fairly wide gully. It is the last gully before the water. Note that there are two other tracks up the eastern wall of the canyon. These are also fun hikes that take you past sand dunes and swaths of vibrant purple sage in the summer time. You can get to Echo Basin along these paths.

In the summer the path is easy to spot as it is a sandy track in a field of rocks and boulders, but in the several inches of snow we had to feel our way to avoid stumbling. It wasn't too bad. You just have to know at what point to branch off to the right hand trail that takes you up to the top where the road is. This is the only somewhat strenuous part of this hike, and we found ourselves shedding several layers even though it was a chilly 33 F.

Once on the road we headed right (west) and followed the road as it winds its way toward the river. The views up here are magnificent and only improve as one heads south toward the bridge. Just as we turned the first corner the sun made an appearance and we stopped to snag some photos of the reflections of the snowy cliffs across the river on the glass-like river. There were flocks of twittering and whistling black waterfowl (Black Scoters?) and the sun was casting beautiful pinky orange reflections on the cliffs and water. It was very serene.

It's cool to come across remnants of the old highway, such as the stone reinforcement wall soon after turning the corner. I can't imagine traveling by car along this narrow and rocky and somewhat crumbling roadway. It is ideal for walking however - a good surface with only the occasional rocky bits to navigate around.

After going up and down and around for maybe two miles we decided to have lunch just off the road on a little outcropping that afforded a grand view of the bridge. It was about 2:45 by this time and the light over the bridge was a mix of pink and slowly descending fog, giving a very eerie and mystical appearance. During lunch we heard voices and couldn't figure out where they were coming from as no other people were in sight, but eventually spotted some people and dogs way up at the top of the cliffs. We surmised that they had parked in the Wild Horse viewpoint parking lot and had strolled over to see the view. I don't know who was more surprised.

After watching the whistling scoters and some honking Canada Geese we turned around and headed back to the car. We saw a couple of others heading down the gully ahead of us, but apart from that the only other life we saw was on the beach on the way back, where a very large hawk was perched in a tree. Also we heard the sand making lots of little cracking sounds. The water is currently very low here and I guess it was the mud cracking, or maybe had something to do with all the clams?

Made it back to the car by 4:22. Perfect day.

Ethan, Brenda, Jonah, Karen, & I took a hike at the Frenchman Coulee area today, but as you can see, not to Frenchman Coulee proper.  Our destination was the old 1918 highway (pre-Hwy 10) that descends the cliffs across the river from the Ginkgo Backcountry.  I had been eyeing this road every time I had hiked at Ginkgo and Ethan, Karen, and I had even tried for it last spring, but I pooped out before we made it.  Today we drove to the boat launch at the end of the Frenchman Coulee road and headed north from the boat launch parking area along a fence to the base of a bluff, then climbed around to the top of the bluff.  From here we climbed to the top of a ridge and immediately encountered a deep side-canyon which we had to go around.  Once around the side-canyon we came to a 2-track that took us to the old highway close to where it emerges from under I-90.  Along the way there were a couple of other 2-tracks coming up from the river.  Once on the highway we followed it south to a spectacular viewpoint below Pt 1225.  Though it was about noon, we decided to keep going a while before having lunch.  The road gradually descended around the head of a major side-canyon and back out to the cliffs above the river, then down through some cliffs to a flat where we found a nice spot in the sun for lunch.  After 45 min or so the others decided they wanted to continue on down the road.  I wasn’t ready to go yet, so we decided that they would go until 2:00 and I would follow when I was ready.  I eventually made my way leisurely down the road as far and the next side-canyon.  It was starting to cloud up by this time and I decided that I had walked far enough and started back up the road.  The others eventually caught up with me, having made it all the way to where the road disappears into the river.  Although the day had started sunny, by this time we were under heavy overcast.  Rather than retracing our steps back to the cars we decided to descend the side-canyon south of Pt 1225.  Once down to the river, we followed the trail back to the parking lot.  Much of the land east of the Grant Co. PUD’s strip along the river is private, but the 2-tracks heading up to the highway are not posted “No Trespassing” and obviously get a lot of motorbike use.  Another time I would take one of these roads up to the old highway.  We saw lots of waterbirds, a couple of pelicans, and a bald eagle, but except for a couple of people on mtn bikes, we didn’t see anyone else.   

Got on the trail around 11:30 AM and the lot was full with mostly climbers. Parking spots were still available and the trailhead toilets are open. They are rather full and there is no toilet paper, so they could use a little maintenance. It was really cool to see all the climbers around! We hiked further back to the large canyon and route finding can be a little difficult as there is quite a few different trails leading all over. But overall this hike was pretty relaxing with great landscape views!

09Nov 10:00 - 14:30 was chilly ~40s_F when i was hiking (Clockwise: TH -> [1] -> [2] -> [3] -> [4] -> [5] -> [6] -> [7] -> [8] -> [9] -> [10] -> [11] -> [12] -> 13] -> TH) of the Frenchman Coulee Trail.

The one (minor) obstacle may be the slope (between [7] and [8]) of Grade ~15 degrees (after the Waterfall and going up to the Old Vantage Highway). It is partially dirt and partially paved brokened large stones/rocks. At the same time, this section is generally wide: ~3 -to- 6 ft width. As such, imho - i felt safe - not "exposed", especially cos i tread slowly and with Trekking Poles.

Though i was the second vehicle to arrive at the Trailhead, i didn't see any one until i was up on the Old Vantage Highway. There were 2 Climbers at The Feathers. And ~8 vehicles parked at the Vantage Camping Site (it have 2x Privy).

It was a very nice day for me for i got to enjoy the sights of the incredible geology of the Frenchman Coulee, the Waterfall, the Feathers, the Agathla Tower and the WALL_s .. Nature beautiful artwork :)

Happy Trails Everyone!!