{"id":4711,"date":"2016-02-28T08:19:16","date_gmt":"2016-02-28T15:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=4711"},"modified":"2019-03-16T14:30:24","modified_gmt":"2019-03-16T20:30:24","slug":"white-butte-north-dakota-state-high-point-2-26-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=4711","title":{"rendered":"White Butte, North Dakota State High Point (2-26-16)"},"content":{"rendered":"

This time Lupe was going to climb White Butte<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(3,506 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>, the highest point in North Dakota (3,506 ft.), for sure!\u00a0 Back on June 25, 2014, Lupe and SPHP had come by on the way home\u00a0from Lupe’s Dingo Vacation to the Kabekona Lake<\/a><\/span><\/strong> cabin in northern Minnesota, but SPHP had not been able to figure out how to gain access.\u00a0 SPHP was better prepared now,\u00a0after reading trip reports and printing out topo maps from Peakbagger.com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

White Butte is located 6.5 miles S and 1 mile E of the\u00a0tiny town of Amidon (pop. 20 in the 2010 census)\u00a0in Slope County, roughly\u00a045 miles NE\u00a0of the SW corner of North Dakota.\u00a0 S of Amidon, Hwy 85\u00a0comes within\u00a03 miles directly W\u00a0of White Butte, but there is no easy access from the W.<\/p>\n

To get to White Butte, Lupe and SPHP left Hwy 85 two miles E of Amidon turning S on a good, wide, gravel road.\u00a0 (There is a green and white street sign on the N side of Hwy 85 identifying this as “140 Ave SW”.)\u00a0 The road went straight S five miles to a crossroad marked at “69 ST SW”.\u00a0 White Butte was visible from this intersection about 2 miles to the SW.<\/p>\n

\"White<\/a>
White Butte (R) is seen 2 miles off to the SW upon reaching gravel road “69 ST SW” five miles S of Hwy 85 along “140 AVE SW”. Lupe and SPHP took “69 ST SW” one mile W to the start point for Lupe’s journey up White Butte.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe and SPHP turned W (R) on 69 ST SW which was a much narrower gravel road, but still in good condition.\u00a0 69 ST SW went straight W one mile to another intersection.\u00a0 There was a large old mailbox with crude fading lettering on it saying “White Butte turn here”, and a nice place for a couple of vehicles to park just beyond it.\u00a0 SPHP parked the G6 here at 4:27 PM (56\u00b0F).<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe reaches the big old mailbox at the intersection 1 mile W of AVE 140 SW along 69 ST SW. This is where her journey up White Butte began. Trip reports on peakbagger.com mention a mailbox where a donation could be placed to thank the landowner for allowing high pointers access to White Butte. SPHP was prepared to leave a donation in the mailbox, too, but found it was padlocked shut. Photo looks SW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From this intersection where the big old\u00a0mailbox was, a gravel road curved SW toward a farmstead.\u00a0 Another gravel road in similar condition to 69 ST SW\u00a0went straight N.\u00a0 Lupe, however,\u00a0needed to go S another 1.5 miles to get to White Butte.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, there was also a\u00a0dirt road going straight S from the mailbox along the W side of a fence line.\u00a0 This road was basically just an old pickup truck route through a pasture.\u00a0 Not something SPHP thought it would be wise to take the G6 over, besides\u00a0which there was an elaborately painted “Road Closed” sign.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe about to head S on the road to White Butte. Those dark spots are hay bales, not cows, much to Lupe’s disappointment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The weather was unbelievably beautiful for February in North Dakota, in the mid 50’s \u00b0F with a light W breeze, as Lupe set out heading S along the old\u00a0pickup truck route\u00a0through the pasture.\u00a0 SPHP’s only concern was\u00a0whether Lupe\u00a0could get\u00a0to the top of White Butte before sunset.<\/p>\n

There was still some time before sundown, but not an awful lot.\u00a0 SPHP tried to hurry along.\u00a0 Lupe was unconcerned.\u00a0 She enjoyed trotting along on and off the road, while sniffing around.\u00a0 She liked being out of the G6, but was disappointed that there weren’t any cows around.\u00a0 The prospects for finding any squirrels looked pretty bleak, too.<\/p>\n

After going nearly a mile S, Lupe came to a stand of big old leafless cottonwood trees just W of the dirt road.\u00a0 A short distance beyond\u00a0the cottonwoods\u00a0was a dilapidated old building.\u00a0 Lupe was\u00a0at least half way\u00a0to White Butte as she went on by.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe about 0.75 mile N of White Butte. Photo looks S.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A little S of the dilapidated old building, Lupe came to a very small hill where another fenced-off field started on the W side of the road.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0From here on, the\u00a0road continued S between barbed wire fences on both the E and W sides.<\/p>\n

Lupe went over the small hill\u00a0down into an area where the ground was pretty soft.\u00a0\u00a0Just W of the dirt road, and at virtually the same level, the field looked just plain swampy.\u00a0 Clearly, it wouldn’t take much rain or melting snow to turn the entire area into a sea of mud.<\/p>\n

Lupe was getting really close to White Butte now.\u00a0 The road S ended at another fenced field directly ahead.\u00a0 There were “No Trespassing” signs on the fence.\u00a0 However, there was a gate\u00a0near the end of the road\u00a0giving access to the field to the W.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP went through the gate.<\/p>\n

\"Past<\/a>
Past the small hill there were fenced fields on both sides of the road. Looking S at White Butte.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe and SPHP went through this gate. The single track trail to the top of White Butte started on the other side of the gate. Photo looks SSW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the W side of the gate, a fairly well-traveled single track trail went S along the W side of the remaining fence line.\u00a0 By now, it wasn’t much farther to a hill where Lupe’s climb would begin.\u00a0 As Lupe got close to the hillside, there were some interesting badlands type formations off to the W.<\/p>\n

The trail left the fence line to go around the W side of this first hill.\u00a0 There was a short section of trail that climbed fairly steeply up barren, crumbly badlands type terrain before reaching a small grassy area\u00a0on top of\u00a0the hill.\u00a0 The trail angled back E close to the fence again, traversed a little ravine and then turned sharply W.\u00a0 There was a dangerous downed barbed-wire fence\u00a0following just S of the\u00a0trail along\u00a0here.<\/p>\n

When the trail turned S again, SPHP picked Lupe up to get her over the dangerous barbed-wire fence.\u00a0 Just ahead, the trail divided as it crossed a larger grassy area.\u00a0\u00a0There was a small grove of trees mostly\u00a0toward the left (E) track.\u00a0 The two tracks\u00a0met up again before climbing up onto the ridge extending down to the N from the E end of White Butte.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe going up the W side of the first little hill. She is on a short section of steep trail. Photo looks SSE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Here Lupe is already past the dangerous downed barbed-wire fence. She climbed up to the ridge line at the low saddle shown on the R. This is a very easy route up White Butte. Photo looks SSW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was a very short steep stretch of trail where there was some ice just before Lupe reached the crest of the ridge line, but Lupe and SPHP were soon past it without any problem.\u00a0 Just N of where Lupe reached the top of the ridge, there was a little rise.\u00a0 From the rise, there was a great view of the rest of the ridge extending off to the N.<\/p>\n

Lupe’s route up along the trail was really quite easy.\u00a0 Trying to get up on the ridge line farther N would have made for a trickier ascent.\u00a0 Looking back to the S, the single track trail went up the W side of the\u00a0next big hill\u00a0onto the high ground NE of the summit.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the little rise just N of where she gained the ridge line. The fence line Lupe followed to get here is seen way down on the prairie on the R.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the little rise near where she gained the ridgeline. Photo looks S at the last hill up to the high ground near the summit. The trail went up along the W (R) side of the hill on the L.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now on the N ridge, Lupe went S following the trail up the last big hill.\u00a0 SPHP hadn’t really checked the maps carefully, and wasn’t sure how much farther the summit was to the SW.\u00a0 It wasn’t far at all.\u00a0 In just a few minutes, Lupe was standing on top of White Butte!<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on top of White Butte, the highest point in North Dakota! Photo looks NE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The USGS Benchmark on White Butte.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the summit were a number of items of interest.\u00a0 There was a cairn, a USGS Benchmark, a green metal box containing a red-covered notebook serving as a registry log and lots of pens, a long wooden box containing a hand trowel, and a metal marker for Lawrence P. Buzalsky (1935-1990).\u00a0 SPHP entered Lupe’s name into the registry log.\"White<\/a>\"Grave<\/a>Lupe had made it to the top of White Butte 20 minutes before sunset.\u00a0 After entering her name in the registry log, there was time for Lupe and SPHP to wander around taking a good look at the splendid\u00a0360\u00b0 views.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking NE. The path Lupe came up is seen on the right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking SE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Looking S.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe and SPHP left the absolute summit to explore the summit ridge to its western terminus, which wasn’t far off.\u00a0 The views to the W were best from here.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP watched the sun\u00a0sink slowly\u00a0behind long desolate ridges.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking NW from the W end of the summit ridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking E back at the summit, which is seen on the L.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking SW at High Point 3484.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking NW using the telephoto lens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The N ridge of White Butte in the last rays of sunlight. Looking NE from the W end of the summit ridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking W.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking SW again at High Point 3484 as the sun is on the horizon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The sunset was unspectacular. There just weren’t many clouds around to show off the colors. Use of the telephoto lens was necessary to even capture this little bit of orange glow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once the sun went down, it was time for Lupe to start back to the G6.\u00a0 She returned briefly to the true\u00a0summit along the way.\u00a0 From there, Lupe and SPHP wandered over to the E end of the summit ridge for another look before leaving White Butte.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking SW back at the summit as Lupe starts the journey back to the G6.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking SE from the E end of White Butte.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the very NE end of the summit ridge. Photo looks N. The divided part of the trail is seen clearly down on the grassy area to the R.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe just before heading down.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A final look to the W before Lupe’s descent.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The dead tan of the grasslands in late February added to the sense of barren remoteness seen in every direction from White Butte.\u00a0 White Butte felt desolate and forlorn.\u00a0 Still, what Lupe had seen\u00a0from the top was a\u00a0beautiful, wild and largely unspoiled part of the world.<\/p>\n

Lupe’s trip to White Butte had been a very enjoyable success!\u00a0 If she had arrived a little bit earlier in the day, it would have been fun to go SW over to High Point 3484, and maybe spend some time poking around on the N ridge for a little while.<\/p>\n

As it was, the light was fading quickly as Lupe headed back down the trail.\u00a0 More ranch lights appeared scattered across the prairie than SPHP would have expected.\u00a0 Stars twinkled faintly in the sky.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP enjoyed a beautiful trek back across the prairie following the fence line N.\u00a0 Orion was shining in a dark night sky above White Butte when Lupe reached the G6 at 6:39 PM (43\u00b0F).<\/p>\n

Just as SPHP was putting the backpack in the G6, Lupe heard the wild dogs.\u00a0 Coyotes were singing off to the N.\u00a0 Lupe listened very intently for the few minutes they called to her.\u00a0 Then she hopped into the G6 for the long\u00a0ride home.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the White Butte trail\u00a0at twilight.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Access & Trail Notes:\u00a0 SPHP found some of the trip reports on Peakbagger.com a bit confusing as to the best access route to White Butte.\u00a0 There were also mentions in some reports of difficulties avoiding steep terrain.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP found the\u00a0following route to and up White Butte to be very straightforward and easy:<\/em><\/p>\n

The tiny town of Amidon is near the W end of a 9 mile stretch of Hwy 85 that goes E\/W.\u00a0 One mile E of Amidon is a road off Hwy 85 that goes straight S toward White Butte.\u00a0 There is a cemetery here by the highway on the SE corner of the junction.\u00a0 A sign says this road is closed, and the road to White Butte is one mile E.\u00a0 The sign is correct.\u00a0 Do not take the road going S from the cemetery.\u00a0 (Some who reported a long rough drive to White Butte probably took this road despite the road closed sign.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Go\u00a0another mile E on Hwy 85 to the next road going S (2 miles E of Amidon).\u00a0 There is a green and white street sign on the N side of Hwy 85 at this intersection saying this road is “140 Ave SW”.\u00a0 This is a good, wide gravel road and the best access route to White Butte, even though there is no sign along Hwy 85 saying so.\u00a0 Note your vehicle’s odometer reading as you turn S from Hwy 85.\u00a0 Follow 140 Ave SW going straight S.<\/em><\/p>\n

Five miles S of Hwy 85 is a much narrower gravel crossroad.\u00a0 Again there is no<\/em> sign saying anything about White Butte, but there is another green and white street sign on the SW corner of the intersection saying “69 ST SW”.\u00a0 Turn W (R) on 69 ST SW and follow it 1 mile to the first intersection where the big old mailbox is on the left.\u00a0 The roads were perfectly fine to this point.\u00a0\u00a0No high clearance vehicle is needed.<\/em><\/p>\n

Park\u00a0just beyond the mailbox\u00a0and hike the pickup truck route about 1 mile S along the fence line to the gate.\u00a0 Go through the gate, and follow the obvious trail S and on up to the top of White Butte.\u00a0 There only a couple of short steep sections on the trail the entire way, and they are pretty easily traversed.\u00a0 There is nothing dangerous along the way except the downed barbed wire fence part way up that is laying across the trail.\u00a0 (Perhaps rattlesnakes during warm weather.)<\/em><\/p>\n

SPHP has no idea why the mailbox was padlocked shut.\u00a0 Others reported leaving a donation to the landowners as a thank you for allowing access to White Butte, which is on private property.\u00a0 SPHP intended to, but didn’t since the mailbox couldn’t be opened.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lupe and SPHP\u00a0met no one, and saw no activity or lights at the farmstead SW of where the G6 was parked.\u00a0 Other trip reports which mention encounters with the landowners indicate that they are not opposed to high pointers crossing their property to reach White Butte.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP encountered no “No Trespassing” signs posted on any of the land Lupe crossed, although there were some on adjacent fields.<\/em><\/p>\n

Those who choose to ignore the “Road Closed” sign to follow the pickup truck route S will find it in pretty good shape much of the way to the gate.\u00a0 Even the G6 could have traversed much of it.\u00a0 However, if the ground is at all wet, this entire route would be very soft.\u00a0 Lupe doesn’t recommend trying to climb White Butte during wet weather, or any time when the ground is not either dry or frozen solid.\u00a0 The whole route would be a miserable mucky mess.<\/em><\/p>\n

White Butte was a pleasant, easy hike with views well worth the modest effort – a very nice state high point, especially for those who love remote unspoiled places.\u00a0 Good luck!<\/em><\/p>\n

Links:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Next Dingo Vacation<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Prior Dingo Vacation<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Want more Lupe adventures?\u00a0\u00a0Choose\u00a0from\u00a0Lupe’s Black Hills, SD & WY Expeditions Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span>,\u00a0Dingo Vacations Adventure Index<\/strong><\/span><\/a> or Master Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0Or subscribe free\u00a0to\u00a0new Lupe adventures<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This time Lupe was going to climb White Butte\u00a0(3,506 ft.), the highest point in North Dakota (3,506 ft.), for sure!\u00a0 Back on June 25, 2014, Lupe and SPHP had come by on the way home\u00a0from Lupe’s Dingo Vacation to the Kabekona Lake cabin in northern Minnesota, but SPHP had not been able to figure out … Continue reading White Butte, North Dakota State High Point (2-26-16)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[668],"tags":[105,106,104,418,572,573],"class_list":["post-4711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2016-north-dakota","tag-american-dingo","tag-carolina-dog","tag-lupe","tag-north-dakota","tag-state-high-point","tag-white-butte"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/IMG_0331.jpg?fit=1651%2C1238&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4711"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20846,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4711\/revisions\/20846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}