On Friday we
decided to check out the advertised scenic drives on Hwy 14 and 14A. This could also be another choice for getting
through the mountains to Cody. This
drive was nice but not nearly up to the amazing drive we did on Thursday
through Crazy Woman Canyon.
At an elevation of 9430 ft. snow and wildflowers seem to mix pretty well.
At an elevation of 9430 ft. snow and wildflowers seem to mix pretty well.
We decided
to see if there was a road up Medicine Mountain, the site of the Medicine
Wheel, a stone circle that lies at the top of a ridge just below the top of the
mountain. The builder(s) and the
original purpose still remain unknown.
Modern Indians use the Medicine Wheel for religious ceremonies. Flags or offerings are left around the wheel,
signifying that a ceremony has taken place.
The Medicine Wheel is at least 250 years old.
There is a steep gravel road up to a parking lot where you can meet the ranger in charge to find out a little about the site. You can then hike up the even steeper 1.5 miles to the Medicine Wheel. A few people a day are allowed to drive the last 1.5 miles – we were one of them today, thank goodness. The rangers keep track of your coming and going by radio.
There is a steep gravel road up to a parking lot where you can meet the ranger in charge to find out a little about the site. You can then hike up the even steeper 1.5 miles to the Medicine Wheel. A few people a day are allowed to drive the last 1.5 miles – we were one of them today, thank goodness. The rangers keep track of your coming and going by radio.
Scenery in
the area.
Small
delicate wildflowers everywhere. They caution
to stay on the trails to keep from destroying the wildflowers. We’ve noticed that the wildflowers don’t
bloom at the lower elevations.
On the way
up some more snow. Most of those who
were hiking couldn’t resist getting a handful.
It was 93
degrees out today, granted it was cooler here at 10,000 ft. But, I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have made
the walk. Sorry these pictures aren’t
clearer, the road is pretty bumpy.
I think in
order to get a really good picture of the full stone wheel you have to take it
from above. Obviously, at 5’2” this isn’t
happening for me so I just did the best I could. In the upper right corner is the center of
the circle (wheel). You can see antlers
in the small circle in the foreground, one of the many small offerings left
after ceremonies. It’s hard to
distinguish the stones from the many white wildflowers that are blooming around
them.
Another
picture of the Medicine Wheel, our Jeep is in the background.
Purple
flowers on the mountain side as we leave the site.
Scenery on
Hwy. 14A
Greg doesn’t
share my enthusiasm for finding “figures in the clouds” so I usually keep my
findings to myself. But this unicorn was
just too good to not share with him! He
just shook his head and looked like he was thinking he needed to take me back
to Crazy Woman Canyon and leave me.
Scenery on
Hwy. 14
We had
decided even before this that Hwy. 16 is our best choice to go over the
mountains, but this just clinched it.
Our wildlife
photo of the day. An RV and two cars in
front of us came to a sudden stop on a downgrade to view this little critter so
I desperately tried to get a good shot also.
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