We drove for hours. We had left 2 days earlier than the rest of the mission trip so that we could make a swing through North Dakota before meeting the team in South Dakota. We were headed to White Butte. At 3,506 it is the Highpoint of the state. It is way off of the grid.
after driving for two straight days we arrived in its vicinity. We spent the night and then got up early the next morning to drive the 16 remaining miles. It took us over an hour to make those last few miles, but only because I kept stopping to take pictures of birds, deer and antelope. It was an amazing morning.
During that whole time we were only passed by one car. We had the whole countryside to ourselves. Early in the trip I had expressed a desire to photograph a yellow- headed blackbird. Right in cue one appeared on the side of the road. Ring necked pheasant crowded the fence lines. Antelope munched happily in the open fields. A deer spring through the tall grass apparently entertaining himself.
We pulled into the parking area and found that we were the only people attempting the Highpoint that day and all my nervousness about getting an early spot was in warranted. We made the four mile trip and we were back in the car and headed south. All along the way we drove past abandoned homes
I wondered about the families who had come out to farm and live a simple life. I did not look like many had made it to a second or third generation. The towns were tiny and decay hung around them like flys on roadkill. Why do something’s last and others fade away? The last year has been like a drought on the prairie time will tell what is going to make it.