Isaac heading up the trail to the top of Big Butte
Two striking landmarks come into view when you drive into Butte on I-90: the massive terraced walls of Berkeley Pit, and the rounded peak of Big Butte, the hill towering above the west side of town. Berkeley Pit is a relatively new phenomenon, an artifact of Butte's shift from underground hardrock mining to open-pit mining in the mid 20th Century. Big Butte, on the other hand, is nearly 50 million years old, the eroded neck of a long extinct volcano.
I've always been intrigued by Big Butte, going back to long before we decided to move to Butte. The iconic M at the top — made from whitewashed limestone and lit up every night – was built in 1910 to honor the Montana School of Mining just below it, which now goes by the name of Montana Tech.
The iconic M in winter and summer
When we moved to Butte and arrived in town late on a Saturday night, I got up early the next morning and took our dogs Jamie, Alice, and Nancy on a hike to the M, to see it up close. Then, realizing that the top of the hill was just a short scramble above us, we continued to the top and enjoyed the views of our new home.
Checking out the view from Big Butte on our first morning in town
I've been up Big Butte many times since, but in January 2023 I decided to make that steep little hike a part of my daily routine. I hiked to the top 25 of the 31 days of January, and I'm planning to continue that pace through the spring. Hiking season is coming, and a daily trip up Big Butte will keep my aging quads and glutes ready for more strenuous hikes to come. Below are some photographs and memories from my first month of daily trips up Butte's landmark hill.
On January 1st, I was busy all day but wanted to start my streak of daily hikes up Big Butte, so I went up around 9PM. You always have the top to yourself after dark in the winter.
Nancy joined me on January 2nd.
January 3rd was Isaac's first turn of the month.
Left: Nancy on January 5th. Right: Isaac on January 6th.On January 8th, Nancy, Isaac, and Megan joined me for a post-sunset hike.On January 9th, I was feeling strong and decided to take both Nancy and Isaac. And I paid for it on the way down, when they pulled so hard toward a young man coming down the trail that they planted me face-down in the snow.
A few photos of the trail to the top. It's only about a quarter mile, but ~300 feet of elevation gain.
There's an old lightning-scarred telephone pole at the top of the trail, and a short metal pipe mounted in a concrete base marks the highest point on Big Butte.
The deer have their own trail to the top, which crosses the human trail about a hundred yards below the top.
Crows are a common sight at Big Butte, especially right around sunset when they're on the way to their nightly resting area over at Berkeley Pit.
January 16th: deep fresh snow, nobody else around, and a nice sunset over Mount Fleecer
Three photos from the top just after sunset on Wednesday January 18, facing east, southwest, and north.
January 24th: snow and wind and limited visibility
January 29th was the coldest day of the month, with a low of -22 and a high of -4. It was around -10 when I went up, and the only tracks (other than mine) in the snow from two days earlier were a fox going up the trail and a deer that had walked across the top.The view of Uptown Butte from the trail, looking east past Anselmo Mine, the Original Mine, and Berkeley Pit to Our Lady Of The Rockies on the Continental Divide ridge.
I skipped the first day of February, and then on February 2nd Isaac joined me for a hike to the top. We'll be back!
