Prune Creek Campground, Bighorn National Forest, Wyoming; September 6-9, 2015

Since this was only a few miles away from Sibley Lake, we had nearly no drive, although we did have to go dump the tanks, since none of the campgrounds up here have any dump stations. The station for the forest wasn't too far away and one of the best we've ever used. Plenty of space to pull in, a nice long, straight drive to the hookups, and plenty of water for rinsing. Payment of the fee was on the honor system, and $5 per unit was requested, which was more than fair.

Our campsite here wasn't as nice as the one at Sibley, but the entire campground was a little more wild – we had no hookups, so had to fill up with water on the way in. We were tucked away at the far end of the loop, and in spite of being a holiday weekend, it was fairly quiet.

We had one day trip while we were here – Medicine Wheel/Medicine Mountain National Historic Landmark. On our way, we stopped at an overlook – 9,430 feet above sea level – and what a view! We could see for miles and we watched bald eagles, vultures, and red-tailed hawks soar on the currents for half an hour.

Another pullout down the road told how “in the summer, cattle and sheep graze the rangelands of the Bighorn National Forest. These rangelands are the vast grassy hillsides and sagebrush-covered alleys that dominate the plateau of the Big Horn Mountains. The Forest Service manages the location, duration, and numbers of livestock grazing through a grazing permit system.” (Forest Service signage).

Shortly after leaving the second pullout, we got to the turnoff for Medicine Wheel. “For centuries, the Bighorn Medicine Wheel has been used by Crow youth for fasting and vision quests. Native People also go to Bighorn to offer thanks for the creation that sustains them, placing a buffalo skull on the center cairn as a prayer offering. Prayers are offered here for healing, and atonement is made for harm done to others and Mother Earth.”

“The structure is located at an altitude of nearly 10,000 feet near the summit of Medicine Mountain and is a pre-columbian [before Columbus] structure built from roughly loaf-sized stones gathered from the surrounding area. It is 25 yards in diameter, has 28 spokes extending from rim to center, and has seven cairns.” (Forest Service signage) Astronomers have studied the site and found significance in the alignment of the cairns, and there is a good bit of information on the web: solar-center.stanford.edu and sacred-destinations.com for two interesting sites).

There is a narrow, bumpy dirt road that winds around and up the mountain to a gate across the road and small building off to the side. The ranger there let us drive up (sometimes it pays to have old, achy joints) the steep, bumpy, one mile track that wound even higher until we arrived at a large, flat area high above the road. We parked in one of the four spaces and walked up to the Medicine Wheel after reading more signs about the significance of the rituals. Many prayer offerings were left tied on the ropes surrounding the wheel, on the ground, and placed on rocks within the wheel for departed loved ones, atonement, or thanks. There are times throughout the year when only Native Americans are allowed entrance, thus are able to honor their heritage and customs in peace. Eighty tribes come to Medicine Wheel for prayer or traditional ceremonies.

Rich and I both felt pensive when we approached the wheel and the entire time we visited, all around us spoke in hushed, respectful tones. It was a sobering and moving experience.

Our next stop: Devils Tower!