Round Butte

On the 22nd my uncle Paul, aunt Jerri, Mom, Dad, cousin Dylan, Marie and I hiked up Round Butte.  It is a fixture on my families skyline, but I have never hiked it.  I have hiked the larger square butte (creative names I'll admit) many times, but never hiked the smaller, mostly because it is entirely on private land.  My uncle Paul attained permission, we packed up the dogs  and  took off at 8am.  

We arrived at the base of the butte at around 9:30 and began hiking.  The first stop, was the tomb of Ole Osnes who had once owned the land.  He was buried in 1937 within a granite tomb.  

We then began the hike through Montana prarie to the base.  The grass was dry and poked through socks.  The worst part was the cheat grass.  It is a pain and has little sharp seeds that stick to anything.  Marie and I stopped often to pull them out of our shoes, socks, and pants.  

We got to the top and found a survey marker on the highest point.  We ate lunch and rested for a while.  Paul, Dylan and I wandered to find mountain goats and then head down.  We found a pair on the far other side of the butte.  Just as we headed down we ran into the others on their way down.  

We did not plan super well for the dogs.  Paul had his dog Mason pack his own water, but our new dog, Molly, did not have any.  Dad and I sacrificed some of our water for her.  On the way down, we did find a stock tank that the dogs were able to drink from, and Mason went for a swim to cool down.  

The hike was great, although I did sunburn my neck.  That night Marie, Dylan and I played the Farming Game.  Dylan whooped up on us.