Upper Midwest Tour Day 5, July 14

We conquered our first State highpoint today – White Butte, North Dakota, elevation 3,506 feet.  After breakfast at our Buffalo Gap Campground under hazy skies, we drove east than south about 50 miles to  the trailhead.  The Highpoint Adventures guide (dated 2005) provided excellent directions to the trailhead, but while they suggested hikers talk with the property owner, Mrs. Van Daele, and provide a $20 donation at her house or in the pickup truck if she wasn’t home, there was no need for this.  The house was abandoned and there were no trucks anywhere near the homesite.  Instead, we drove directly to the spacious, well-labeled trailhead where one other car was already parked.

Our car looking up to the high point -- the green hill on the left.

The hike up, at about 400 verts, and 0.8 miles, was easy, however, there were a couple of steep parts, and the trail had several false paths as one entered the badlands.  We only went on one wrong path a short way before backtracking and trying a different route.  We met the other car's occupants just before reaching the top; they were coming down.  The guide recommended taking hiking poles, which indeed helped on the steep and rutted parts, and to watch for rattlesnakes.  The descent was quick and without incident and we saw no snakes, in fact no wildlife at all.

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At the summit.

The view from the top was 360 degrees, obviously, and was a mixture of grassland, eroded white hillsides and a few groves of trees.  The day was comfortable, hazy, and breezy.

View from the top.

Another view from the top looking back to the car.

There is our car.

I win the Wind Olympics; note the angle of the hiking pole.

We drove back to Medora, going slowly on the 8 miles of gravel road, and watching birds flicker and soar on the stiff wind.  We now know that they were flocks of Horned Larks and Morning Doves.  They seemed to like landing on the road.

 

Upon reaching Medora, I found a coffee shop and we had snacks at the town’s public plaza under huge umbrellas.  I took the opportunity to finish the previous day's blog and sent it out, using my phone as a hot spot – no such capability at the campground.  We chatted with a husband-and-wife team acting as volunteers and ambassadors for Medora.  They talked up the town, its history, and its tourist-oriented activities.  They were from Brainard, Minnesota, and volunteer each summer for a week or two because they like Medora.  They get room and board while serving.  They have a nephew who works for the Sisters/Camp Sherman Fire Department – small world…

 

They pushed the Medora Music Show and Pitchfork Fondue dinner before.  The show must have 5 components, including patriotic notes, Christian motifs, and horses.  We drove up and viewed the site which included the outdoor restaurant, the amphitheater, and a construction project for a Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, but decided the Music Show was not our thing.  We drove back to the campground and rode our bikes around the hilly Buffalo Gap area.

This sign explains the fractured red rock.

This sign explains the overall geology.

Our campground.

Our camp site, with our abode.

We had dinner and retired to much better sleep.  A rain storm passed through during the night, followed by a spell of gusty wind.