OTHER Trip Report 09/19/2017

Peak(s):	White Butte - 3506
Date Posted:	09/19/2017
Date Climbed:	08/26/2017
Author:	rob runkle

White Butte - Highpoint of North Dakota
I had traveled to Montana, in order to climb Granite Peak. As Jim and I descended back to the trail head, the previous day, Jim mentioned to me that I should consider getting the high point of North Dakota, since I had a free day. I pondered the idea, then quizzed Jim about possibly getting the high points of both North and South Dakota. It would require a ton of driving, but I thought that I could do it. While we were driving back to Billings, Montana, to check into the hotel, I booked a rental car for the next day. My plan was to get an early start (7 am), pickup the rental car at the airport, and start driving East. The drive East, and into North Dakota was uneventful. It was relatively barren. The drive time was about 4.5 hours. I pretty much followed the google directions to the trail head. According to "Google," the trail head was located due East of the summit. I suspect that this is incorrect. Since this was a last minute trip, I had not done any additional research. Later, I review the route that most people seemed to be taking, and it seems that most people access from the North, and travel straight South to the summit. When I arrived at the "trail head," Another vehicle was also parked there. This added to my thinking that this must be the trailhead. As I was hiking the peak, I am pretty sure that I saw the people from the other vehicle, and they were also hiking White Butte. White Butte Closing in on White Butte I parked the car, and started jogging. I wanted to try and finish White Butte as quickly as possible, so that I could get back on the road, and head towards South Dakota. Initially, the trail was running along the fence heading towards White Butte. As the fence on the right ended, the trail turned right, and started going away from White Butte. Based on discussion with Jim, I was expecting about 2 miles round trip. I was watching the mileage on my Garmin, and was already approaching 0.5 mile. I knew if I followed the path North, it might go up and around, but it would definitely lead to more than 1 mile to the summit. I suspect that this trail eventually meets up with the correct trail. Needless to say, I did not want to double my mileage, so I turned hard left, and started cross country, up the slopes. The path I chose went down into and across some dried up creek beds, up dirt slopes, back down, then ultimately, some mild bushwhacking up the slopes of White Butte. At one point, I had to cross a barbed wire fence. This was an additional clue to me that I might have started at the wrong place. Along the way, I saw regular evidence that the route I was taking had been used by others as a path to the summit. But, the evidence was very feint. I suspect that the trail from the North is probably more clear (based on later review). I reached the summit in around 16 minutes. My Garmin showed just under a mile to the summit. I spent 2 minutes on the summit, then started down the same way that I went up. As I descended, I check out some of the bluffs that were due East from White Butte. Ultimately, I reached the car in around 17 minutes. Total round trip was right at 2 miles, with my descent side trip. I jumped back in the car, and started driving south, towards South Dakota. Summit Register Selfie on the Summit My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload): Login required to view this map... Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

White Butte - Highpoint of North Dakota

I had traveled to Montana, in order to climb Granite Peak. As Jim and I descended back to the trail head, the previous day, Jim mentioned to me that I should consider getting the high point of North Dakota, since I had a free day. I pondered the idea, then quizzed Jim about possibly getting the high points of both North and South Dakota. It would require a ton of driving, but I thought that I could do it. While we were driving back to Billings, Montana, to check into the hotel, I booked a rental car for the next day. My plan was to get an early start (7 am), pickup the rental car at the airport, and start driving East.

The drive East, and into North Dakota was uneventful. It was relatively barren. The drive time was about 4.5 hours. I pretty much followed the google directions to the trail head. According to "Google," the trail head was located due East of the summit. I suspect that this is incorrect. Since this was a last minute trip, I had not done any additional research. Later, I review the route that most people seemed to be taking, and it seems that most people access from the North, and travel straight South to the summit. When I arrived at the "trail head," Another vehicle was also parked there. This added to my thinking that this must be the trailhead. As I was hiking the peak, I am pretty sure that I saw the people from the other vehicle, and they were also hiking White Butte.

I parked the car, and started jogging. I wanted to try and finish White Butte as quickly as possible, so that I could get back on the road, and head towards South Dakota. Initially, the trail was running along the fence heading towards White Butte. As the fence on the right ended, the trail turned right, and started going away from White Butte. Based on discussion with Jim, I was expecting about 2 miles round trip. I was watching the mileage on my Garmin, and was already approaching 0.5 mile. I knew if I followed the path North, it might go up and around, but it would definitely lead to more than 1 mile to the summit. I suspect that this trail eventually meets up with the correct trail. Needless to say, I did not want to double my mileage, so I turned hard left, and started cross country, up the slopes. The path I chose went down into and across some dried up creek beds, up dirt slopes, back down, then ultimately, some mild bushwhacking up the slopes of White Butte. At one point, I had to cross a barbed wire fence. This was an additional clue to me that I might have started at the wrong place. Along the way, I saw regular evidence that the route I was taking had been used by others as a path to the summit. But, the evidence was very feint. I suspect that the trail from the North is probably more clear (based on later review).

I reached the summit in around 16 minutes. My Garmin showed just under a mile to the summit. I spent 2 minutes on the summit, then started down the same way that I went up. As I descended, I check out some of the bluffs that were due East from White Butte. Ultimately, I reached the car in around 17 minutes. Total round trip was right at 2 miles, with my descent side trip. I jumped back in the car, and started driving south, towards South Dakota.

My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

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