Slim Buttes 2010 July 2-5

The weather was near perfect for camping in Slim Buttes, South Dakota this last Forth of July weekend. The first day we car -camped by the Castle Buttes and had a large egg and bacon breakfast the next morning. The second day we hiked in on the South end of Slim Buttes with our backpacking gear. By GPS inbound: 6.3 mi, 4h 53 min, 1.3 mph, outbound: 6.1 mi, 4h 40 min, 1.3 mph. We set our tents on a nice overlook with the only disadvantage being the howling wind along the ridge line. The view of Prairie below the cliff face and our camp site was spectacular. The wide open vista of the Prairie below and the Southern horizon made the hike worth while You definitely feel like a speck of dust trapped between the stars and Earth when you get those big sky vistas of the West.
I brought a lot of water for the backpacking hike. This time of year Slim Buttes can get very hot. I started out with 2 gallons of water and when I finished the hike the next day I had a quart and a half left. The water weight (8.35 pounds per gallon) adds a lot to an already heavy 35 pound backpack . I hate to get shorted of water though. It is hard to tell from the videos and stills but there is a lot of ups and downs in hiking this ( arid table land) country. One of our party did almost manage to step on a Prairie Rattler. 2 in 10 bites are dry bites for Rattlers. Rattlers are fairly rare so it was a bit alarming to come across an adult Rattler. The camping and hiking were a blast. The vista of our camp site the second day of camping made the 6 mile hike in with a near 50 pound pack over rugged terrain seem like an effort well spent. Again, as in every previous year, we had Slim Buttes to ourselves. There are not many places in the world where you can get about 100 square miles of National Park to yourself. On a clear dark night, because of the absence of street lights or lights from nearby small towns, the Milky Way galaxy is a clear white band across the sky. On a butte top in Reva, with regular binoculars, you can see many nebula in the Southern sky not ordinarily visible from my northern location in a large metro area.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Slim Buttes
• South Dakota
• Custer National Grasslands

[GregoryLog]

@MrTryingAgain, haven't been there yet, but I'd like to try Theodore Roosevelt park. There are some flat top buttes North of Buffalo, SD that are fun to hike around. I like the big sky vista of the West. There are plenty of dense woods in Minnesota, so the Rapid City area and in particular the Black Hills holds little interest to me as well. I do love the smell of those ponderosa pine on a hot summer day however. Slim Buttes is a MUST!

[MrTryingAgain]

Thanks for the video. We live in north central SD and are looking for a place to go backpacking without driving all the way to the Rapid City area. Amazing photos. if you have any other suggestions, send them my way! :-)