Adams County Highpoint Trip Report

Date: June 27, 2006
Author: John Mitchler

While my 50-50-1 team ate breakfast at nearby Bowman, ND, I commissioned my driver, Kathy, to drive me east on US 12 for 23 miles. We passed through tiny Reeder and turned north on 15th Street NW just as Spooky Mike's report instructed us to do. We drove the paved 6.7 miles fast and slowed down for the remaining 1.0 mile before we turned left (west) on a ranch road. This road was good (no bumps for our low-clearance rental) but we could see that it would be tough going if wet, like the Spookster had to endure. We drove 1.1 miles, turned right (north) for less than 0.2 mile, turned left (west) and drove about 0.3 mile to the crest in the two-track ranch road. From this point, Kathy walked the puppy dogs as I scrambled north up the steep slope of Whetstone Butte.

On November 25, 1998, David Olson wrote a note to me about this cohp:

"The top of Whetstone Butte is a caprock about 8 feet high and 30 feet long east-west. The caprock is about 6 feet wide north-south at the top and about 12 feet wide at its base. The caprock is most easily climbed from the south. Climb up, Class 3, about 2 feet at a crack near the east end of the south face, then walk up a slanting ledge westwards to the top. The capstone is a conglomerate made up of small grit-sized rocks up to pinto bean size. Immediately west of the caprock is a rocky platform. A benchmark is placed on this platform on a 1-foot high man-made pillar, presumably concrete."