Medicine Wheel

Last night I pulled over at dusk onto a dirt road at the summit and spent the night with some cows. When I started driving this morning, I realized that I was near The Medicine Wheel in the Bighorn National Forest and decided to stop for awhile to experience this special place.

The huge stone circle is at an elevation of 9,642' and has an 80 foot diameter with 28 spokes radiating from a central stone cairn to an encircling stone rim. It has been there longer than any of the Plains tribes' ancestors can remember (500 to 800 years) and the native people still make pilgrimages to this sacred spot. It's also a tourist site though it was still early morning and I was priviledged to be the only one there, so I sang and chanted on the 1.5 mile walk out to the circle. It was a beautiful clear day and on the return hike I was rewarded with sightings of 3 marmots and a weasel.

Many people leave prayer offerings on the fence or at the perimeter of the circle.