North Pumpkin Butte, the Campbell County, Wyoming High Point (6-26-19)

Day 1 of Lupe’s 1st 2019 Dingo Vacation to the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming!

June!  Green grass, blue skies, white clouds, warm soft breezes, and long, long days.  Yet Lupe was bored.  Summer was here, but nothing had changed.  No Black Hills expeditions, no Dingo Vacations, lots of short trips out to Grandma’s house where strange things were happening, but otherwise no adventures at all.  SPHP had always maintained that summer started June 1st, but even the summer solstice came and went as if it meant nothing at all!

Was Lupe’s life of adventure over?  No more mountains?  A future spent staring endlessly out the living room window while precious days made for glory slipped away forever?  So it seemed.  Day after disappointing day, the hope in the Carolina Dog’s eyes for something better could be seen ebbing away.  Despite SPHP’s assurances, Lupe was losing faith.

June was already near its end when at last there was a change.  Hours before dawn on the 26th, SPHP was up and about.  Preparations!  Gear and supplies were getting carted out to the G6.  The American Dingo danced underfoot, full of excitement.  She knew the signs!

So, where are we going SPHP?

Not too far, Looper.  The Bighorn Mountains in N central Wyoming.

Oh, I love the Bighorns!

Yeah, should be a fun time.  We won’t get all the way there today, though.

Why not?  Aren’t we leaving soon?  It only takes a few hours to get to the Bighorns from here.

Yup, we’re leaving as soon as I can get us ready.  However, yesterday I talked to John Christensen who owns the ranch that North Pumpkin Butte (6052 ft.) is on.  The N butte is the highest of the Pumpkin Buttes and the high point of Campbell County, Wyoming.  Mr. Christensen kindly granted a certain lucky dingo permission to climb it today!  Should be a fairly easy climb, yet quite a vantage point with a grand view W toward the Bighorn Range if the sky is clear.

Oh, I can hardly wait!

Loopster did have to wait, but not for much longer.  By 7:30 AM she was comfortably perched atop pillows and blankets riding high in her usual spot in the G6.  Her first Dingo Vacation of 2019 was underway!

By lunch time, a happy Carolina Dog was at Savageton, Wyoming. (MP 35.4 of Hwy 50 S of Gillette)  Here, SPHP turned W onto a wide gravel road known as the Black & Yellow Road.  Going up a little rise, Cheryl’s Place was on the L, and a sign for the Christensen Ranch appeared on the R.  From the top of the rise, North Pumpkin Butte was in view, still quite a few miles off to the SW.

2 miles from Hwy 50 there was a junction.  Christensen Road went L (S) toward territory E of North Pumpkin Butte.  It seemed counter-intuitive to stick with the Black & Yellow Road, but a 5-18-09 trip report by Edward Earl, and a 7-18-18 GPS track by Daniel Mick both indicated successful ascents from the W or NW, not the E.

The Black & Yellow Road soon turned NW away from North Pumpkin Butte.  What Lupe was seeing did not match up with Edward Earl’s trip report.  SPHP concluded that was because the Black & Yellow Road must have 2 highway access points.  Coming up Hwy 50 from the S, Lupe had reached the S access point at Savageton first.  However, Edward Earl had come down Hwy 50 from the N, and must have started on the Black & Yellow Road from an access point considerably closer to Gillette.

At any rate, 6 miles from Hwy 50, Lupe came to a “T” intersection.  This was apparently where the N and S routes met.  After a brief look around, SPHP turned L (SW) at the “T”.

In addition to being cattle country, this whole region was an oilfield as well.  A confusing number of intersections with oilfield service roads not mentioned in Edward Earl’s trip report (perhaps they hadn’t existed in 2009?) appeared along the way.  Signage wasn’t matching up very well, either, but Lupe did come to what seemed to be some of the places Edward had talked about.

Fortunately, the treeless expanse of open range continually provided a clear view of North Pumpkin Butte.  At the intersections, SPHP merely took the best looking road heading either directly toward or to the W (R) of the butte.  4 miles after the turn SW at the “T” intersection, the Christensen Ranch HQ appeared on the R at the end of a short road.

While Lupe and SPHP were stopped briefly out in front of the drive to the ranch HQ, a pickup truck appeared from one of the side roads.  Bob Christensen and some of his family and/or ranch hands were in it.  Bob was John’s cousin, and readily accepted SPHP’s explanation that Lupe was here to climb North Pumpkin Butte with John’s permission.

Despite the maze of roads to choose from, Bob said it was easy to get to where Lupe needed to start from.  She was already on the right track.  Just keep heading S or SW toward the W side of North Pumpkin Butte.  Can’t miss it!

Sounded good!  Lupe and SPHP stopped for photos at several points along the way.

Six miles from the ranch HQ there was a junction with a good gravel road that headed somewhere off to the W.  A sign pointed the way back to Savageton, or straight on S to Casper.  Continuing 200 yards S beyond this junction led to another one with a road that headed E toward North Pumpkin Butte.  Looked like this might well be the 19.1 mile point from Hwy 50 on the route Edward Earl had taken to get here, although Lupe had come only 16 miles from Savageton.

The road E wound around for 0.75 mile, then turned S descending into a drainage which must have been the North Prong of Willow Creek.  A line of small orange rock cliffs was on the R (W).  At the bottom, a mud hole covered a curve in the road.  Mile 20.0 in Edward Earl’s description?  SPHP thought so.  The day was sunny and dry, but the road wasn’t.  As Edward had predicted, the G6 was done.  Paw and foot from here on!

Setting out from the mud hole (1:00 PM, 76ºF), Lupe followed the road as it curved NE on its way out of the valley.  After gaining a little elevation, the road curved again.  Going SE now, the Carolina Dog soon came to a smallish metal building posted with radiation warnings, apparently in connection with a former uranium mine that was a bit farther S.

Beyond the metal building, it quickly became apparent that the main road Looper was on was going to head S avoiding North Pumpkin Butte altogether.  A primitive 2 track road angling off to the SE was more promising, so the American Dingo tried it.

The 2 track went a short distance to a slight rise from which another primitive road could be seen farther E across a grassy field.  That was the road Lupe needed to be on!  Close to where she would reach it if she crossed the field, it turned E heading for North Pumpkin Butte.

Fearing the possibility of cactus, or worse yet, rattlesnakes, SPHP wasn’t crazy about the idea of having Lupe leave the road to wander through the field, but no alternative was in sight.  Fortunately, crossing the field went without incident.  Lupe was soon safely on the other road starting her ascent of North Pumpkin Butte (6,052 ft.).

Loop trotted higher along the 2nd 2 track road.  It climbed steadily at an easy pace winding mostly E or SE toward North Pumpkin Butte along the S slope of a ridge overlooking a large ravine.  The day had been pleasant enough earlier on, but as the afternoon sun blazed high overhead in a nearly cloudless sky, the temperature soared.  A mighty warm day to be wearing a fur coat!

Cedars or juniper bushes grew in the big ravine, but for a long way there was no shade at all close to the road.  Feeling hot, Lupe plodded along more slowly.  Meanwhile, SPHP kept an eye on the line of cliffs along the upper rim of North Pumpkin Butte.  Edward Earl had mentioned a light sandy gully toward the N providing a break in the cliffs that was a quicker way to the top of the plateau than a long trek S high along the W face that others had taken before him.

A distinct notch in the cliff line was indeed visible toward the N where the cliffs appeared to be tallest.  Maybe that was Edward Earl’s light sandy gully?  Worth a shot!  When Lupe got higher, she could go check that notch out first.  The American Dingo wasn’t interested in that yet, though.  When she finally came to a bush close to the road, she was ready for water and a rest in the shade.

After a short break, Lupe continued higher.  She stuck with the road, which gradually deteriorated.  A few hundred feet below the W rim of North Pumpkin Butte the road divided at a grassy curve.  The American Dingo followed the branch going NE fairly steeply uphill almost directly toward the notch in the line of cliffs.

The road veered N and faded away before Lupe made it to the notch.  No matter, it wasn’t much farther!  The American Dingo roamed here and there while SPHP searched for the easiest route up the remaining short stretch to the notch.

The interior of the notch was not visible during Lupe’s approach from the SW.  Drawing near, she came across a single track trail leading right to it.  Soon Lupe was standing on loose sand at the base of a beautiful horizontally-striped sandstone cliff.  Straight ahead was a vertical wall of pock-marked rock.

The notch had to be right around the corner between these two cliffs.  It still wasn’t possible to see yet if the notch was actually Edward Earl’s light, sandy gully, some other route to the top of North Pumpkin Butte, or a dead end.  However, Lupe was about to find out!

Yup!  No doubt about it.  This was it!  Upon turning the corner, a wide slot of sloping terrain between the two cliffs led right on up to the top of North Pumpkin Butte.  An easy trek higher, and Lupe was there!

The topo map portrayed North Pumpkin Butte’s summit plateau as a vast almost level region shaped rather like a fish swimming S with a fat belly bulging toward the W.  This fish is nearly 1.75 miles long N/S, and part of its midsection is more than 0.5 mile wide E/W.

3 high points varying only slightly in elevation were marked on the map.  At the extreme N end of the fish tail was a North Butte survey benchmark at 6,039 ft.  Two slightly higher points existed somewhat S of the center of the fish, one not too far from the W edge at 6,049 ft., and another close to the E edge at 6,052 ft.  Edward Earl had mentioned that in the opinion of John Mitchler, the true summit of North Pumpkin Butte was actually the high point marked as 6,049 ft.

The notch Lupe had come up was on the W side of the butte between the N and W high points, probably somewhat closer to the W one.  The plan was to visit all 3 high points shown on the map, which would insure not only that Loop actually did visit the true summit somewhere along the way, but give her a chance to explore much of the summit region, too.

The American Dingo started out by visiting the rocky W edge of the plateau immediately N of the notch.  After enjoying the grand views, she roamed NE a little way before SPHP decided it was time to take another break.  Clouds were now building to the W toward the Bighorns, but it was still sunny and warm up on North Pumpkin Butte, although perhaps not quite as hot as it had been earlier on during the long road trek.  A light breeze helped.  Even so, some shade would have been nice.  Tough luck on that.  There wasn’t any.

During the rest break, the clouds seen building to the W caused a change of plan.  While the N end of the summit plateau would be fun to visit, it was still a good 0.5 mile away.  Maybe it was best to make certain Lupe got to tag the true summit by visiting the 2 higher points to the S first?  No telling what those clouds might do on a hot summer afternoon!

Lupe was flexible.  She was perfectly happy to head S.  The Carolina Dog was soon passing by the notch she had come up again.

S of the notch, Lupe continued along the W rim enjoying tremendous sweeping views.  She eventually abandoned the edge to head SE directly toward a tower and metal sheds at HP 6049.  This was actually the true summit of North Pumpkin Butte in John Mitchler’s opinion.

True summit or not, HP 6049 wasn’t too exciting.  The small tower and old buildings weren’t much to look at, and it wasn’t close enough to the W edge to have a view.  Looking ENE across the summit plateau toward HP 6052, the true summit of North Pumpkin Butte (6,052 ft.) according to the map, not much was to be seen over there, either.  A flat grassy plain extended toward no obvious high spot near the E edge.

There seemed to be no reason to linger at HP 6049.  Since the weather was holding up, exploring farther S close to the edge where the views were best sounded like more fun than heading straight over to HP 6052.  However, it didn’t turn out that way for Lupe.  Proceeding S from HP 6049, she started to encounter cactus.  No fun at all!

Looper was soon refusing to go any farther unless SPHP first scouted out a cacti free path.  She would then reluctantly come to SPHP, where she would wait again until another stretch was certified cacti-free.

This cactus avoidance system worked, but coaxing the Carolina Dog along in this manner slowed progress down considerably.  Nevertheless, Lupe did make it all the way to the S end of North Pumpkin Butte.  A big metal fence was along part of the S rim.  More interesting was the view SE toward the Middle Pumpkin Buttes.

From the S end of North Pumpkin Butte, Lupe continued her counter-clockwise tour of the summit plateau.  She left the edge to visit another tower not too far from the S end, ultimately reaching the E edge farther N.  From here she could see a long stretch of the E rim.

Looper had reached the E rim of North Pumpkin Butte somewhat S of where the map showed HP 6052.  She continued N near the edge gaining at least some elevation.  Lupe never did come to any obvious highest spot, although she must have passed over HP 6052 somewhere along the way.  Looking across the butte, HP 6049 did look higher from here, but long ago SPHP had learned that appearances can be deceiving.

The big fish of North Pumpkin Butte was so large, and cactus had slowed things down so much, that it was becoming clear that Lupe wasn’t going to have time to complete her circumnavigation of the summit plateau.  She never was going to get to see the world from the N end of the butte.

Satisfied that Lupe had visited the true summit somewhere along the way, SPHP led her NW across the grassy plateau returning directly to the notch.  Little cactus was present in this area.  Long before reaching the notch, the American Dingo had forgotten all about cacti, and was happily roaming freely again.

After going down through the notch, SPHP called John Christensen to thank him for allowing Lupe to climb North Pumpkin Butte, and let him know that she was on her way down.  Mr. Christensen chatted amiably with SPHP for a few minutes, then mentioned that there was water available in the area, if needed.  Exactly where, SPHP didn’t quite catch, but on the way down Lupe spotted a huge old tire serving as a reservoir a bit farther S than she had been on the way up.

The long trudge back to the G6 along the winding road was both more pleasant and interesting than expected.  The air cooled rapidly as a line of small thunderstorms approached from the SW.  Lupe saw lots of cloud to ground lightning only a few miles away.  She got sprinkled on lightly a few times, but reached the G6 just as it finally started raining harder.  (7:35 PM)

That rain didn’t last long.  The Carolina Dog enjoyed a fabulous ride back to Hwy 50.  This time SPHP took Edward Earl’s route along the Black & Yellow Road to the N highway access point closer to Gillette.  Such a golden evening!  Lupe was excited to see many pronghorn antelope, cows, and sheep from the G6.

Approaching Gillette, a dark purple sky was ominous.  Lightning flashed continuously, a violent wind blew, and it rained hard.  However, the worst of the storm had already passed by the time Lupe reached town.  The sun was gone, and a black night had begun.  SPHP made a brief stop for supplies, then drove W on I-90.

Lupe’s long day, the first of her first Dingo Vacation of 2019 during which she’d been privileged to climb North Pumpkin Butte (6,052 ft.), finally came to an end at the Powder River rest area.  (11:00 PM)

Links:

Next Adventure

5-18-09 Trip Report by Edward Earl

7-18-18 GPS Track by Daniel Mick

6-12-04 Trip Report by John Mitchler

Campbell County’s Historic Ranches – The Christensen Ranch

John Christensen (307) 660-3852.  North Pumpkin Butte is entirely on private property.  Obtain owner’s permission before visiting.

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