Potholes Coulee

Potholes Coulee is just a few miles north of Frenchman Coulee (previous post), but has a more diverse landscape, with a whole bunch of lakes (both above and below the rim). There are basically two large channels - Dusty Lake sits in the southern one, the multiple Ancient Lakes sit in northern one. It would have amazing to watch during the floods!

Looking West

Looking East

I hiked in from the Quincy Lakes Wildlife area above the rim - from where I parked it was less than ten minutes to the cliff edge overlooking Dusty Lake. I spent a couple of hours exploring the narrow spine (a fin if it were in Utah and perhaps a blade around here) that separates the two coulees - which afforded great views of the lakes on both sides. I'll save an exploration of the lakes themselves for some future trip, but this saved me having to hoof it all the way back up from the bottom.

Ancient Lakes

Route-finding was pretty easy - although it benefitted from earlier reconnaissance with Google Earth. And good views do not require any scrambling - let alone ropes. The flowers were out, the temperatures reasonable, and the rain squalls waited until I was back in the car. I did see one snake (I heard it first), but it was moving away quickly so I couldn't even get a photo.